


Usonia

by qvbit



Series: Convergence [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, F/M, Memory Loss, Non-Graphic Smut, Porn With Plot, Resolved Sexual Tension, Robot Kink, Robot Sex, Robot/Human Relationships, Robots, honestly the living room window has become its own character in this story lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:08:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25840342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qvbit/pseuds/qvbit
Summary: Daniel was recovered, wiped and sold on by Zlatko. Your parents bought him while you were at college.  You’ve never had an android in the family before. When you return to the family home, you notice flashes of instability becoming slowly more prevalent in him. It's only a matter of time.
Relationships: Daniel (Detroit: Become Human)/Original Female Character(s), Daniel (Detroit: Become Human)/Reader, Daniel (Detroit: Become Human)/You
Series: Convergence [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1916683
Comments: 16
Kudos: 51





	1. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You come home from college, and find it hard to get used to Daniel living with you and being ordered around by your parents.

The November rain had started. Your parents always said it used to be colder and drier at this time of year. You couldn’t remember. A bittersweet feeling fell over you as you packed your things, listening to the patter of raindrops on the metal roof of the dorm. Exams were over, for the very last time - you were graduating. Your friends in the same year at other colleges had already finished, but yours had odd semesters, and it didn’t help that you’d taken a half-year gap instead of a whole one before you’d started your studies. You’d always felt a little behind for these reasons, but no more. Still, you were going to miss living here, and the friends you’d made. 

It scared you a little, not having the structure of classes, deadlines. The whole world was before you now, and you didn’t even know where to start. You focused on folding your clothes. You’d go back to your parents’ house for now, have a rest and try to recover from your burnout. That was a good first step, you thought. 

Your phone buzzed. You sighed, and picked up. 

“Hey mom, what’s up? I’m just packing, could I call back in a bit?”

“Oh, I’ll be super quick, I promise! I know you’re packing. I just wanted to show you something … are you ready for a surprise?” 

It must be something big, you thought. She seemed like she could hardly hold back. 

“What is it?” you asked apprehensively. 

She grinned and left the frame for a moment. When she came back, someone was with her, a slender, good looking blonde man that you didn’t recognise. You did a double take when you saw the ring shaped light that pulsed softly on his right temple. He was an android.

“This is Daniel,” your mom grinned. “We just got him, isn’t he great!?”

He waved and smiled at you. “Hi! I can’t wait to meet you in person! I’m sure we’ll get to know each other very well.”

You managed a hesitant smile back at him. “Uh … hi Daniel, welcome to the family I guess.”

You turned your gaze to your mom. “So … this is sudden.”

“We got him second hand! It was a great deal, we couldn’t resist. And everyone seems to have one these days. A PL600. It’s an older model but it can still do a lot.” She nudged Daniel. “Go on! Tell her what you can do!”

You watched him as he rolled through a list of all his functions. His big gray-blue eyes had a canny glint that you were sure you hadn’t seen in other androids. You found your eyes straying over his slender face, strong cheekbones, neat blonde hair, and you couldn’t help wondering why Cyberlife insisted on making their household assistant models so attractive. You supposed they couldn’t well make them ugly. Either way, he was just a robot, you reasoned. You pulled yourself back to the present and forced your eyes away from him and back to your mother. You’d never been really close to an android before, and you wondered how you’d react to living with one. You supposed once you got close to him he’d look less than human, and you’d be able to see that he was indeed made of plastic and metal. You weren’t sure whether that made you feel more or less comfortable about the prospect of spending the next couple of months with him. 

The day finally came for you to leave your dorm. As you drove you felt a knot forming in your throat, which only got tighter as you got closer to home. 

The sun was just disappearing behind the horizon when you pulled into your street, and everything was bathed in a deep blue hue, the soft warm glow of houses guiding you down the road like beacons. A wave of nostalgia passed over you - it felt like it had been years since you’d left, even though you’d come to visit on every break. There was your childhood home at the end of the drive, surrounded by lush grass and sheltering trees, welcoming lights beaming out from inside through its floor to ceiling windows. You stopped in the driveway behind your parents’ car, sheltered in the carport, took a deep breath and closed your eyes trying to compose yourself. You were used to sharing a home with strangers, you told yourself. Anyway, he was just a robot … just a robot. You repeated the thought in your mind as you got out of the car. 

When you opened your eyes, you saw a slender figure approaching you out of the deep blue. It was Daniel. He stood out in the near-dark, uniform a stark white. You felt your breath catch in your throat and you tried your best to look normal, and composed. Was your face too blank? What if you blinked too much? Would he pick up on your apprehension? 

He finally reached you. He’d looked like he might tower over you when he’d been further away, but now that he was in front of you, he wasn’t much less than half a head taller than you. He smiled, a little more genuinely than the customer-service grin you’d expected. 

“Welcome home! I’ve been looking forward to helping you settle back in. Let me help you unpack.”

“Thanks, but I’ll be fine I’m sure! I only have one suitcase. Where’s mom and dad?”

He jerked his head back towards the house. “I let them know I heard you coming, they’re on their way out now.”

Before you could stop him, he’d gone round to the trunk and opened it. You followed him around, and poised yourself to help - it was out of habit, you put it down to all the times you’d had to help your friends unpack on road trips. Daniel had no need for your help, though. He pulled out your suitcase like it was empty, and placed it on the ground. 

You felt your chest lurch and your heartbeat quicken. Up close, you were surprised and a little alarmed at how remarkably human he looked. 

“I’ll take this in for you. I think I hear your folks coming.” His gaze lingered a bit longer than you thought was normal before he turned to go back inside. You couldn’t help noticing a flicker of yellow in his LED. It was almost too small to notice, but you were sure you saw it. He looked like he was going to say something, but remained silent. You wondered if he’d noticed your discomfort. 

You needed him to stay away from you, you wanted to say. Instead, you responded with a tentative smile. “Thanks, Daniel.”

He made his way back towards the house, fading into blackness for a moment as he crossed the threshold between the deep blue outside and the golden glow of inside. 

Your mother caught him in the doorway, and slipped past him. “Sorry!” she said, bustling towards you. “We wanted to come greet you first but he was so excited. He beat us to it, the silly thing.”

You laughed nervously. “Yeah … well, I consider myself properly introduced now.”

She noticed your flustered expression and tutted. “Oh, it’s just a robot, don’t be so nervous! It does take a bit of getting used to having someone else in the house, but I’m telling you, it’s so worth it.”

“So, what triggered the decision?”

“Oh, we were just window shopping downtown and there was that second hand place, you know? We thought it was finally time - everyone seems to have one now! I’ve gotta admit, once we were in the store, the salesman was pretty pushy. It was kind of an impulse buy.”

Your dad stood in the doorway, waiting for you. 

“Dad!” You hugged him.

“How was your trip?” he asked. 

Typical. You stifled a laugh. “Uneventful. How are you finding Daniel?”

“That thing is amazing. I’m almost jealous - it’s done up the whole house. Have a look when you’re done unpacking. It’s a better handyman than I am!” He glanced over at Daniel, who was in the kitchen pouring a beer, for your dad, you presumed. “You wouldn’t expect it, would you,” he chuckled. 

After your brief catch-up you went to your room to finish unpacking. Daniel had left your bags on your bed for you, so you got to work. After a few minutes, you heard the door creak quietly. You turned around to see him standing there silently, and you flinched a little. 

“Hey,” you said, composing yourself. “Sorry, you scared me.”

“Apologies. I thought you’d like help unpacking.” 

“Doesn’t mom need help? She’s getting dinner ready soon.” You’d been hoping he’d stick close to your parents; you weren’t ready to be alone with him, yet. 

“Soon, but right now _you_ need help,” he insisted.

“Honestly I’m fine! Go help my parents, I’m sure they need it. Or I don’t know, find something else to do, I’m sure they’ve probably worked you into the ground already.” 

He smiled wryly. “You’re not wrong about that.”

You stared at him, perplexed. You found yourself wondering, were all androids this honest? Surely they were programmed to never insult their owners. 

He looked up again. “But let me help you unpack.” 

You had no choice but to let him. You parted things halfway - your most personal items on the left, for you to unpack, and the rest of your clothes and books on the right. “Okay, you do that side. This side is mine.”

He nodded. “Fair enough.”

Was it just your imagination, or did he keep stealing glances at you as you unpacked? You put it down to your own paranoia, or maybe he was trying to evaluate you, trying to see what he could learn about you from watching you. It put you on edge a little, knowing his processors were probably analysing your every movement faster than you could even think. 

He pulled out some of the book tablets from your bag. As he held them up one by one, they lit up. “Look at this … introduction to astronomy, string theory … I’d love to read some of these. Add them to my knowledge bank.” 

You scoffed. “Make the most of them, they cost a fortune. Those were the only books I couldn’t find pirated versions of.” 

He looked over at you incredulously. “Pirating books? That’s _illegal_!”

It took you a moment to realize he was joking. You let out a surprised laugh, and he smiled softly back. You’d heard androids make jokes, but sarcasm … you were pretty sure you hadn’t witnessed that before. The mischievous glint in his eyes disappeared suddenly. It was like a switch had suddenly gone off inside him. “You’re right, I’d better go and help with dinner.” He turned and left before you could say anything. 

When you finished unpacking you went back to the kitchen. A warm savory smell filled the air. “Is that what I think it is?” you mused. 

Your mom turned to you, a wooden spoon in her hand. “Your favourite! As a welcome back.”

You “Aw, you didn’t have to,” you saw Daniel take a sample from the pot on the stove in the corner of your vision. You tried to keep your gaze trained at your mother. 

“I’d classify that as done.” Daniel said, and began serving it up.

“It’s okay Daniel, I can serve myself.”

She doted on you. “Hey, come sit down! You had a long trip today.” 

“Come on, mom. Daniel can’t do all the work.” 

“That’s what it’s _for_!” she said matter-of-factly.

“Also, what’s with you calling him _it?_ ” you couldn’t help asking. 

She shrugged. “Well, everyone does! I think it’s so you don’t humanize them too much, you know? I mean, sometimes I mess up and call it _he,_ but I try not to.”

“Right.” You felt Daniel’s eyes on you as he served dinner, so you didn’t press the conversation. 

You sat down, and immediately your dad leaned forward. “So, how do you feel? Miss physicist. I can’t wait to hear the stuff you’ve learned. In layman’s terms, of course.”

You laughed softly and cast your gaze downwards to your plate. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Daniel lean casually against the counter. “Honestly I want to forget all of it right now. I’m burned out.”

“Ah, you’re right. You need a good break, give your brain a rest. Perfect timing, really,” he said. You gave him a baffled look. 

“Your mom and I have to go away for a bit. Not for your whole holidays, but some of it. I thought you’d be happy to have some time alone.” 

“But why, what’s up?”

“Your grandpa’s sick.”

You nodded slowly. Now, you understood. You’d never been close to the man, you hardly knew him, but what you did know, you didn’t like. You’d expressed your wishes to stay far away from him to your parents multiple times. Still, you respected your dad’s closeness to him - he was his father after all. 

“I wondered if you could look after the house and Daniel while we’re away?”

“Uh … sure.” As much as you were happy to have the house to yourself, you felt uneasy about being alone with Daniel. “When are you going?”

“In a couple of days, so we can spend some time with you before we go.”

You nodded slowly. “Okay. It’s alright, we’ll be fine! Right Daniel?” you gave him a pointed look. He avoided your gaze, which only made you more uncomfortable. 

“No house parties, okay?” your dad said sternly.

“Can I have friends over though?”

“Sure, just no messing up the renovations, yeah?”

You nodded, and looked around the house. It was a mid-20th century design, almost a glass box, with high ceilings baring wooden rafters, and an open floor plan. It felt so familiar but so different; you couldn’t quite remember exactly how it had been before your parents had Daniel do it up, but now it felt somewhat stark, with dark wood floors replacing carpet, and streamlined furniture in the living room, looking out over the lush backyard. You felt like you were in limbo. 

The first morning back in your own bedroom, Daniel brought you a coffee. He waited for you to throw on a robe, and then opened up the door just a crack to slip the mug to you. 

“Thanks”, you said, and you were met with a very long silence in response. “Daniel?”

He obviously wasn’t used to someone thanking him. Finally, he responded with a tentative “you’re welcome”. 

Over the next two days, you tried your best to enjoy the company of your parents, but you always had a vague feeling of uneasiness. You didn’t know whether it was because of Daniel himself, or the way they treated him. You knew he was just a machine, but it made you feel odd the way that he only seemed to exist when they needed him to do something for them, and at all other times, he just blended into the background. You found it hard to do the same. 

The day before your parents left, he had spent the morning cleaning and doing laundry. When he was finished, he walked over to the corner of the living room and went into standby. It intrigued you how still he was, eyes closed, LED off, body perfectly rigid. You still felt a little uneasy, but your curiosity got the better of you. Anyway, you might as well start making an effort to get used to him if you were going to spend the next … who knew how long … alone with him. You walked up to him.

“Hey Daniel?”

His eyes opened and his LED turned on. He blinked dazedly, and then smiled slightly. “Hi.”

“Did you want to read those books? My textbooks? You said you thought they sounded interesting.”

His eyebrows went up in surprise. Then, his LED flickered a little, and returned back to normal after a couple of seconds. “Sure. Looks like my schedule’s free for now!” 

“Well, only if you _want_ to. It’s not a command.”

He paused, eyes darting over your face, and then over your shoulder, like he was looking for your parents. “I … I do want to.”

You turned to get them. “Bet you’re just programmed to say that,” you said under your breath, when you were pretty sure he was out of earshot. 

You brought them back to him. “Here they are, all two of them. Don’t let the size fool you, they’re dense as hell. Still, I’m sure you’ll get through them much quicker than me.”

He took them from you gingerly. “.. Thank you.” 

You beckoned for him to sit on the couch. You sat down in the adjacent armchair and grabbed your tablet and pen. You’d been into drawing landscapes - you’d joined an art club at college, and you found that it had helped you clear your head doing studies of the grounds in between classes. You weren’t fantastic yet, but you felt you’d got a decent grasp of it. You thought you’d try and draw the view from the window. 

Daniel came over and sat down. Again, you couldn’t help but be curious. “Do you read like humans? Or is it different?”

He shrugged. “For these, yes. They won’t let me connect wirelessly. But I can read at eighty-thousand words per minute.”

Your jaw dropped. “Okay,” was all you managed to say. You leaned back in the chair as Daniel started to read. You made a quick sketch of the garden. Then, you looked at Daniel again. Something compelled you to try and draw him instead. You abandoned your sketch and started blocking out his pose. You decided it would be a challenge to try and finish sketching him before he finished reading. 

He was a good model, hardly moving but for his finger swiftly swiping at the books. You were just finishing the detail in his face when he put the book down on the coffee table. 

“Damn,” you swore. 

“What is it?” he asked, looking concerned. “Can I do anything?”

You shook your head, giggling. “No, I just didn’t get to finish my drawing.”

He gave you a confused frown. 

“It was of you.”

His frown turned into a look of astonishment. “You _drew_ me?”

“I wanted to see if I could do it before you finished reading. Not quite. Want to see?”

He nodded, fascinated. You passed him the tablet and he peered at it. “Yeah,” he mused. “That looks like me …” He looked back up at you. “You captured my look of concentration,” he said gleefully. 

You couldn’t help but smile back. 

“Daniel!” Your mom’s voice came floating down the hall. “Come and help us get these suitcases to the car!”

He stood up abruptly. “Thanks for the books,” he said skittishly, before rushing to your parents’ aid. It was then that your curiosity turned to sympathy. It was impossible for him to refuse an order. You decided then that you’d make a point of giving him some relief while your parents were away. Was it his programming, had he just been _appearing_ to enjoy reading your books? Or was it geniune? It had seemed genuine to you. You couldn’t help wondering. 

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad being stuck in the house with him after all. 

* * *

The next morning you awoke to a knock on your door. 

“May I come in?” it was Daniel’s voice. 

“Hang on!” you replied. You got up, threw on the closest clothes you could find, pulled open the curtains and shielded your eyes from the light. “Okay, now you can. Jesus, it’s early.” 

He held out a mug of coffee to you, like he had done the last two mornings. 

You took it. “Thanks, you didn’t have to … I was actually planning on sleeping in.”

“My apologies. I would have let you sleep but your parents, they wanted to say goodbye. They’re leaving in about ten minutes, they said.”

You followed him out to the living area. Your mom was sitting at the table, also with a coffee. She beckoned you to sit down. “Hey Daniel, can you go out to the garage and make sure the car’s ready?” she ordered him. He stepped outside. Once she could be sure he was out of earshot, she spoke softly to you. 

“You need to get used to that android. Properly, I mean. You can’t keep treating it like a person, it’s not. It’s here to help you, to serve you. Make the most of it while we’re gone, won’t you?”

You sighed. “Yeah … sorry, he’s - _it’s_... just hard to get used to. I don’t know how you and dad are so chill about it.”

“You’ll get used to it eventually, I’m sure. Oh, and a word of warning - I don’t want to worry you, but just so you know … it is second-hand, and an old model too, so it’s prone to glitches sometimes. If it spaces out, just reset it.”

Your jaw dropped in shock. “I can’t do that!”

Your mom laughed. “Of course you can! You turn your phone off and on when it freezes, you can do the same to Daniel.”

You shrugged. “Alright, okay.”

“Alright good! Now come on, I’m sure dad wants to give you a goodbye hug.” 

You followed her back outside. You hugged your dad tightly. “Take care.”

“You too. Let Daniel take care of you. You deserve to relax a bit.” he turned to the android. “Daniel, don’t let her lift a finger, okay?”

Daniel nodded. 

Your dad got in the car. Your mom hugged you, giving Daniel a stern look as she pulled away. Then, she climbed into the car next to your dad. She blew you a kiss as they pulled out of a drive. You watched them leave, Daniel standing silently beside you under the roof of the carport. Rain pattered metallically over your head. 

When the car had disappeared down the street, he turned to you. “It’s cold,” he said. “Let’s go inside, I’ll make you breakfast.”

You rolled your eyes. “Please don’t listen to my dad. You deserve a break.”

“Unfortunately, I have to listen to him.” Daniel grinned. 

“I’d like to cook my own breakfast! I don’t know, what do androids do for fun?”

“Cooking is fun. I do really mean that,” Daniel said, opening the door for you. You stepped inside, wiping your feet. 

“You’re _programmed_ to say that,” you looked at him dubiously. 

“Believe what you like, you’ll never really know,” he glanced sideways at you with a mischievous glint in his eye. 

You leaned against the kitchen island, watching the gray light begin to brighten the room. You clutched your coffee, eyes bleary. “Uh ... fine. Sure. Pancakes?”

“I’ll be your sous-chef,” he said. “How’s that for a compromise?” You couldn't tell if he was joking or not. 

You took a sip of your coffee, and looked over at him. “Did you put a double shot in?”

“... Maybe.”

“God, I feel like you know me already.”

He grinned impishly. “I noticed your order written on your cup, on the video call we had back when you were at college.”

“Oh my god, so you basically notice _everything_?” You were slightly unnerved. 

“I pick up on text and handwriting, and my programming is biased towards paying attention to hands and faces.”

“Oh … kay,” you replied. 

Daniel’s brow furrowed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I won’t tell you about the details of my program unless you ask.” His LED cycled yellow and he looked lost in thought for a moment, before he looked back up at you. “So … you’ve finished your studies, how does it feel? What are your plans?”

You grabbed a pan and set it on the stove. “I … it’s weird. I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do with myself. No classes, no assignments. To be honest, I’m glad it’s over, it was a slog.”

Daniel followed your lead, taking flour and sugar out of the cupboard, and some eggs and milk from the fridge. “So you’re living back here for the foreseeable future?”

“Yes, until I find a job and somewhere to rent. Although, the way the house looks now, I could almost stand to live with my parents again,” you joked. You got a bowl out, and Daniel started pouring ingredients in. You watched in fascination. 

“You’re not using any measures,” you said. 

“I don’t need to,” he replied. 

You shook your head incredulously - you should have known. 

“I’m sure your parents will be happy to have you back, even for a short time … they were happy to welcome me but they seem so much happier to see you …” he said, grabbing a whisk, and going at the batter vigorously. You'd thought about asking him if he wanted to use the electric mixer, but you saw why it wasn't needed now. He was like a machine with the whisk - well ... he _was_ a machine, you reminded yourself. 

“Why do you care? They’re so mean to you!”

“I’m here to serve them. They give me orders. I’d be lost without them,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Okay … well, it’s not like I’ve replaced you or anything, okay?”

He stopped suddenly, stock still. His LED flashed an angry red. Maybe you should have changed the subject. “Replaced me …”

The silence was tense. You searched for something to say. “Hey. Why don’t we go out somewhere?”

“It’s supposed to rain for another 12 hours,” he replied apprehensively, and continued whisking. 

“But ... I dunno, there’s lots we can do undercover.” You turned the stove on and dropped some butter in the pan. It started to sizzle, and, like he was synchronized to your actions, Daniel started pouring the batter in. 

“Alright … you mean … you want me to come with you?” 

“I know you’d just work all day if you were here,” you replied. And, you didn’t want to say it, but you didn’t have the heart to leave him alone in an empty house. 

He flipped the pancake like it was nothing, and it landed perfectly back in the pan. You were transfixed as he did it again with the next one, too. He never missed. You tore your eyes away. “How much lenience do your commands give you?” you asked. 

“What do you mean?”

“Dad said don’t let me lift a finger. But he didn’t specify, right?”

“I … suppose not. I’ll need to do my best to interpret it into something concrete. The decision boundary is fuzzy though, so please don’t hesitate to let me know if you perceive any of my actions to be a malfunction.”

“Well, in a way, it’s kind of good. Maybe your decision algorithm can interpret that command more uh … loosely.”

“Why?” Daniel said incredulously. 

“Because … at least for a few days, you won’t have to do _everything_ you’re told. You’re free. Ish.” you smiled at him. He still looked a little tense. “Come on, let’s go out. We’ll find something to do.”

He looked at his feet, eyebrows knitted together as if struggling to find the courage to say something. Finally he agreed with a shy nod, which surprised you. It felt different now that you knew he could have refused. You weren’t just giving him a command. He actually wanted to spend time with you.

* * *

_I wanna help you_ _  
_ _I can save you some time_ _  
_ _I wanna take care of you_ _  
_ _Let me ease your mind_

 _I came to do a job today_ _  
_ _Not here to laugh, not here to play_ _  
_ _It's serious, it’s not a game_ _  
_ _I'm at your service, baby_

 _Set me off, see what I'm worth_ _  
_ _Turn me on, I go berserk_ _  
_ _I don’t care if I get hurt_ __  
_No, I don't care_  
_Just put me to work_

Big Data | Put Me To Work


	2. Restrictions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Forbidden Dancing - cheesy, but we love it

When you'd finished breakfast and gotten dressed, you climbed in the car next to him. “What do you wanna do?”

He shrugged. “I … don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever been out for anything more than groceries and errands.”

You tried to think of something he might like. Maybe a movie … and he’d probably be bored if you just dragged him around clothes shopping. Then it dawned on you. “Museum?”

His face lit up. “Sure. Which one?”

“What about the natural history museum? It's pretty new, it was built when I was a kid, and I haven't been since then. It’s got dinosaur and mammoth skeletons and … I don’t even know, all kinds of cool stuff.”

“That sounds fun.”

He peered out the window as you drove downtown. You found a park, and entered the museum. You were surprised that you only had to buy one ticket - for yourself. Daniel got in for free. You were confronted straight away by a huge t-rex skeleton. Daniel was awestruck. He stood back, peering up at it, then got in close to read the plaque. He turned to you, and caught you smiling at him. He grinned back. “I know all of this stuff, well, most of it. I didn’t think it would do much for me to see it, but it’s different now that I’m looking at it all, the real thing. It just solidifies all my knowledge. These things were real … and the _size_ … I know all the average measurements of the species but … I was never able to visualize it.”

You giggled. “You remind me of me, seeing a real dinosaur skeleton for the first time. I was about six.”

Daniel smiled wistfully. “Lucky you …”

You wound your way through the displays. Daniel was fascinated by everything. He read every plaque, and stared for a long time at all the dinosaur skeletons and models, taking in every detail. You couldn’t help stealing a glance or two at him. 

You noticed some other PL600s around, but they were with families, guiding the kids around like pets, and having orders barked at them by the parents. Compared to Daniel, they were positively dead inside. You looked back at Daniel. There was real joy in his face being here. You also couldn’t help noticing he looked just a little different to the other PL600s, and it wasn’t just because the others had blank expressions. They were all supposed to be modelled with the same face, but Daniel somehow looked a little more gaunt, and quite a bit less angelic when he wasn’t smiling. Was it because he was second hand? 

You thought back to when you had mentioned being replaced, how he’d reacted. He’d gotten a dark look in his eyes, spaced out for a moment. Had his past owners mistreated him?

You’d been so lost in your thoughts that you hadn’t noticed Daniel wasn’t beside you anymore. You turned around and moved back through the room. He was at the doorway you’d just come from, just standing there … LED bright red, staring off into the distance. Malfunctioning? You approached him cautiously and reached out to touch his shoulder gently. “Daniel?”

He was shaken out of his trance, flinching and turning around to face you again. 

“Are you alright?”

He nodded vigorously. “I … yes I’m fine.”

“You glitched out or something. Your LED was bright red. Are you sure you’re fine?”

He screwed his eyes shut. “I don’t want to be an inconvenience. You continue on, please. Give me a moment to debug and I’ll be right with you. Apologies, it must be because I’m an outdated model.”

He looked so pained, especially for an android, and it worried you. “Daniel. I don’t think you’re fine at all.”

He gave in. “Yeah- yes I … I think I need to go outside for a moment.”

You were really worried about him now. You placed a hand lightly on his back and hurried back out the main doors. You motioned to sit down on the front steps, but he shook his head vigorously. You walked to a small park nearby and sat down in the grass.

“You wanna tell me what happened?” you asked. 

He had an intense look in his eyes. It was almost a glare. It unnerved you a little. You saw his hand twitch slightly. You were about to drop the subject when he finally spoke. “I … I saw this girl.”

You frowned in confusion and shook your head. “What?”

“This little girl, I …” he shut his eyes again and shook his head, as if trying to shake a memory out of it. “Her face was really familiar … I think I knew her … before … I think I belonged to her family, before I got wiped.”

“Oh Daniel … I’m sorry. Let’s go home.”

“No! Before that I was fine … I don’t want it to ruin your day!”

“It’s fine, honestly. It was horrible seeing you with that thousand yard stare. I’ve never seen an android do that before, it was heartbreaking.”

“PL600s don’t get live support from Cyberlife like the newer models. I just encountered an error and had to perform a correction, please don’t worry.” He was trying to be reassuring, but you weren’t convinced. “Staying out will help me forget about it. If I’m distracted hopefully the memory won’t transition into my long-term storage - it’s already fragmented as it is. And I … I was having a nice time.” Before you could say anything, he got up. “Come on, let’s go and do something else. I need to wipe that memory.”

You followed suit, standing up and brushing the grass off your jeans. “Wanna walk along the river? I bet it won’t be long before the rain comes back, we should make the most of it.”

Daniel nodded. “It looks like rain in about half an hour, so yes, we have time.”

You walked in silence down Woodward Avenue, the crisp wind whipping at your hair. You pulled your coat around you. Daniel slowed down, and you adjusted your own pace to his. When you looked to your left you realised why he’d paused - he was standing, staring up at the Spirit of Detroit. The huge statue loomed over you. 

“The spirit of man, huh,” he murmured.

You looked up at it with him. “When was it built again?”

“1958.”

“I wonder how whoever designed it would feel knowing it had taken on … kind of a new meaning,” you mused. 

“A good or a bad one?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know.”

You walked through Hart Plaza and reached the river. Behind the Police Department head office there was a concrete platform that jutted out into the river. You walked over to it and leaned against the railing, looking out over the river. Daniel copied you. The Detroit Princess was moored to your right. You smiled. “I can’t believe that thing is still there.”

“It wasn’t always. It was built in Louisiana in 1993,” Daniel said. 

You gave him a bemused look. “How much Detroit history do you know?”

“More than I would have liked to,” he smiled wryly. 

“I really thought that thing was older. I would have said 1950s or something.”

Daniel chuckled. “I can relate. Not as old as I look. Built to look older.”

“Huh.” You turned to him. Every time he said something like that so casually, you wondered whether he was somehow going beyond his programming. Admittedly you didn’t have much experience with androids, but still, it felt too human. “So, how old _are_ you?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. My memory was wiped before I got … _resold_.”

“Wouldn’t it have said on like … the authenticity card, or something?”

He shrugged. “Guess not. That’s why I was such a good deal, as your parents keep saying.”

You felt guilty. “I’m so sorry they keep saying that around you.”

“Oh well. It’s the truth,” he said dejectedly.

You felt a drop of rain hit your forehead. 

Daniel had noticed as well. “Come on, let’s find some shelter. It’s only going to get heavier. Apologies, I should have predicted we’d need an umbrella.”

“I don’t mind a bit of rain,” you smiled, trying to reassure him. You could tell he’d been beating himself up since you’d left the museum, and you didn’t want him to feel any worse. Feel … _feel_ … why were you so convinced he _could_ feel? Whether his emotion was just for display, or genuine, it felt wrong not to acknowledge it.

“I’ll call the car,” he said. 

You didn’t feel like leaving just yet. “I wouldn’t mind walking back up Woodward. The other side is mostly undercover. That okay with you?”

Daniel nodded. “As long as you’re dry and warm.”

Some odd feeling welled up inside you when he said it. You looked over at him. He was staring straight ahead, leading you back through Hart Plaza to shelter. You smiled to yourself. You knew it was his programming, but it still made you feel nice.

You’d almost reached Campus Martius park when a shop window caught your eye. Hanging in it was a gorgeous dress, elegant and black. It looked vintage, and the shop name confirmed it. You stopped and stared at it; it looked like your size. You turned to Daniel and gave him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, I have to try this on.”

“I’ll wait outside for you. It’s alright.”

There wasn’t a “no androids” sign on the door. You beckoned him in. “No, come in! I need an opinion,” ... even if it was a pre-programmed one. 

After glancing around, as if to make sure no one was watching him, he followed you in. The shopkeeper was dressed to the nines, in fact, you suspected she was the owner of the place. 

“I saw you peering at that dress in the window. You look like the perfect fit for her! Let me go get her,” she grinned and paced to the front of the shop. You watched her with amusement. She returned to you. “Here she is, let me get you some heels to wear as well …” she bustled off to the shoe section and then returned to you with some black stilettos. “These look like your size! Go on, I can’t wait to see her on you!”

You went to the fitting room. Your heart leapt a bit when you went to open the curtain again and show Daniel. You wondered what he’d say. Would he think it was frivolous? You took a deep breath and walked back out into the shop. The shopkeeper clasped her hands giddily. “She’s a perfect fit! What’s the occasion?”

You shrugged. “Honestly, I just saw it in the window and I had to try it. I’m sure I’ll find something to wear it to.”

She giggled. “Oh, even better. It’s always good to treat yourself, darling.”

You turned to Daniel. “What do you think?”

He stood there and just stared at you. Did he think it looked horrific? You saw him shake his head a little. “I’m … I’m not the best judge of fashion,” he said. He looked like he’d wanted to say something different but was holding back.

“Come on, you can tell me you hate it. I’ll probably still buy it,” you grinned. 

“No I … I was going to say it .... looks like it was made for you,” he said softly.

The shopkeeper narrowed her eyes at him. “Is it programmed to say that? It’s not every day you hear a compliment like that from an android!”

You weren’t sure how to reply. You just shrugged at her. “He seems to like it. I’ll take it!”

“Fabulous. Take care of her for me.”

You changed back into your own clothes and went to the counter to pay. The shopkeeper leaned in towards you. “I’d be careful around that android, the way it was looking at you … it seems to have taken a real shine to you,” she whispered. 

You laughed nervously. “It’s fine,” you replied, hoping you weren’t blushing too much. “He’s just a robot.”

You stepped back outside. Daniel, sure enough, was waiting for you. You beamed at him. “Come on, let’s go home, yeah?”

*

You pulled into the drive. Daniel insisted on taking your bags inside. Before you did anything else you went to your room and made sure it was tidy. You didn’t want him cleaning it for you, and you knew the only way he wouldn’t was if you got to it first. 

You came back out into the kitchen to find Daniel oon standby again, in his usual spot in the living room. You plopped down on the couch. “Daniel?”

He opened his eyes. 

“Thanks for coming with me. Are you okay now?” 

He nodded. “I’m fine.”

You looked over at the chess set on the shelf. “Hey, you know how to play chess?”

“You want to?”

“Just curious.”

He pulled the board out and set it up on the coffee table. Then, he played a game against himself. You were transfixed. He was so fast at it, fingers gripping the tops of the pieces so precisely and moving them to the exact center of each square.

“What do you get out of that?” you asked. 

Daniel paused. “There are so many combinations. Each time is a new challenge.”

“But how do you … how do you win and lose at the same time? I mean, do you let one side lose, or do you try with each side to make winning moves? Don’t you get biased?”

He shook his head. “It’s like a battle against myself, I suppose. You want a game?”

You recoiled a little. “I uh … maybe not after _that_ display. I know that even if I won, it would be because you let me.”

“I only have probability algorithms. There’s no guarantee I couldn’t have a sincere loss.” He leaned in towards you over the table, a knowing smile on his face. “The real future is unknown. Even to androids. Then he gave you a sly wink … wait, was it a wink? His LED flickered yellow for a moment, and it was followed by several blinks. Your stomach flipped. Surely it was a bug. 

You looked outside and saw that it was getting dark. “Dinner?”

“What would you like?”

You shrugged. “Not sure. Any favourites? What’s easy?”

“I have a library of over five thousand recipes. We can narrow it down by cuisine, health rating …”

“Alright, uh well I’ve been eating junk at college, so something healthy … want to teach me a recipe?”

Daniel’s eyes lit up. “I can do that. Just name something, I’m sure I’ll know how to cook it.”

“Maybe a niçoise salad? I’ve always wanted to make that. With tuna. I went to Paris when I was a kid, it was the first meal I had when we got off the plane. I never forgot it. I don’t know, maybe it’s actually terrible, and it’s just the nostalgia getting to me.”

“Not at all. That’s a classic.” he grinned. “We have everything we need except the tuna, I can go and get it.”

“No, leave it to me! Otherwise you’ll have to get the bus, and be out in that rain. I’ll drive, I’ll only be 10 minutes.”

Daniel nodded reluctantly, and you left to get the fish. When you returned, the kitchen already smelled great. Daniel greeted you from the stove. “I thought I’d just get the potatoes on. It’s uncouth, but I herbed them up a little bit.”

“I could tell, it smells amazing. Let me help you,” you said, placing the fish on the counter. “Tell me what to do.”

Daniel seemed so happy when he was cooking, like he was in his element. When it was ready, he served it for you and you poured yourself a glass of wine. He sat down with you, which surprised you, as he usually took his place leaning against the counter. 

“This is delicious. Thanks Daniel.”

He looked proud of himself. “Glad you like it. I mean, you helped.”

“It’s your recipe.”

“Well … it’s Cyberlife’s.”

The rain pattered ceaselessly against the living room window. Daniel insisted on cleaning up, and he didn’t let you help. You let it go, and went to the living room to put on a movie. You tried to filter out the sound of him scrubbing dishes in the kitchen, it made you feel bad. 

Eventually you heard the water stop running. You turned around to see where he had gone, and flinched when you noticed he was standing right behind the couch, seemingly watching the movie as well. You beckoned for him to sit down. “Come sit down if you want. You’re kinda creeping me out standing there.”

He looked stunned. “You want me to sit with you?”

“Sure.”

He sat coyly at the other end of the couch, knees together, hands clasped on top of them. You curled up against the arm of the couch at the other end. 

*

The rain didn’t let up. You opened the curtains to see glossy leaves glinting in the bleak morning light, and bruised clouds. You checked your phone and saw a string of messages. You opened it to see who they were from. 

_Hey! I heard you were back. Come for some lunch?_

Daniel knocked on your door just as you were reading it. “Coffee?”

“Thanks Daniel. Please, though, don’t feel like you have to every morning.”

“I want to. I know it helps you wake up.”

You felt your cheeks grow hot. You lowered your head so he wouldn’t see you. You weren’t sure what had brought it on. 

“Who’s that?” He’d obviously noticed you reading your messages.

“My friend. She’s asking if I want to go for lunch. Would you mind if I did?”

“Sure! Not at all.” His expression didn’t match his words; he looked dejected. 

“Hey. I won’t be long.” You started to worry you’d been a little _too_ nice to him. Was he programmed to get this attached? Surely not. You closed the message. “It’ll only be for a couple of hours.”

When you came home you found him cleaning the living room. He straightened up abruptly when he heard you come in. 

“You always find something to do, even when the house looks perfect.” you gave him a sad smile. You knew he was programmed to be that way, but it still bothered you.

“Well if I’m not of use to you, what use _am_ I?”

“Daniel!” You didn’t know what to say. “... You don’t have to clean to be of use.” You searched for something better to say. “... You’re keeping me company. That’s being of use. Otherwise I’d just be so alone here.”

He looked at you resentfully. “You could just go out and see more friends. They’re human, I’m sure they’re a lot more fun.”

“Hey, I’m allowed to have other friends. It doesn’t mean that you _aren’t._ ”

“My logic algorithm interpreted that to mean you count me as a friend. It was a vague statement, is that what you really meant, or did I process it wrong?” His gaze was focused on his hands, which he wrung so hard you could see blue on his knuckles. His LED flickered, and cycled yellow for a moment. 

You looked at him as you searched for something to say … _how_ to say it. He looked so pained. Surely this was not typical PL600 behaviour. You knew you should have tried to shut him down, but he tore at your heart with his expression like that. You took a deep breath. 

“You know yesterday, down by the river?”

He nodded. 

“Well, that felt like hanging out with a friend.”

He thought for a moment. You could have sworn you saw a flash of red in his LED. When his gaze met yours again, he looked disbelieving.

“You don’t mean that.”

“I do! Why else would I want to go into town with you? I felt really bad at how my parents treated you, I thought you deserved some kindness. I guess … I guess, yeah, that’s friendship.”

“You felt … bad? You shouldn’t have to, it’s my function to serve your parents.”

You leaned in to him. “I don’t know how anyone can look at you and think you don’t have feelings.”

“Then I’m malfunctioning. I’m only supposed to display positive feelings.”

“Well … I like you better this way.”

“Cyberlife recommends you reset malfunctioning androids.”

“... Well, is it okay with you if I don’t? It’s not dangerous, right?” If things did get bad, you could always reset him then, you figured. He flashed you a brooding look. 

*

You cooked dinner together again that evening, and he sat down to eat with you. 

He fidgeted a little before speaking. “I know you probably don’t want to talk about your studies, but … I found the books really interesting.”

“I’ve recovered a bit now,” you chuckled. “What were you interested in, exactly?”

“Why study something you can’t touch, or see?”

“I … I don’t know, it’s always interested me. When I was a kid, I wanted to go to space. Now, not so much. I’d rather study it from afar.”

“Why? You don’t want to go out there and explore?”

“I’m claustrophobic.”

Daniel looked confused. 

“It scares me.”

“I’m even more confused now.”

“I want to study it so I can understand it. But I never want to actually _go_ there. They’re sending androids there now, anyway. You reckon you’d have what it takes?” you grinned. 

“Maybe. I’m a household android. I’m sure they build space-faring androids differently. So, what do you want to do, really?”

You shrugged. “NASA, I guess. That’s the dream. Or maybe CERN …” you grinned, pretending to daydream. 

Daniel’s face fell. “No, that’s in Switzerland! You can’t go there!”

“Oh, relax, I was joking! Why?”

“Because I’d miss you,” he replied earnestly. 

Your face softened. “Okay, well I’m not going anywhere. I probably won’t end up there, or NASA”

Daniel grinned. “I believe you could.”

You finished eating and insisted on helping Daniel clean up. You handed him dishes, and he put them in the dishwasher. 

“It might snow tomorrow,” he said absent-mindedly. 

You cast your eyes over to the bar trolley. There was a good collection of liquor there. Your mom loved cocktails, and she’d instilled the love into you as well, teaching you how to mix all the classics. You perused the bar for a little while, then you looked around at Daniel. He’d noticed you looking, and smiled. “My culinary library includes over five hundred cocktail recipes.”

“Okay, you have me beat there. I know about ten,” you grinned. “Could you make me one? Mom won’t mind.”

He looked at you with a playful glint in his eyes. “Well, I haven’t been ordered not to.”

“That’s the spirit!” you giggled.

He laughed softly. “Was that meant to be a pun?”

“Well, it is now!”

“What would you like to drink?”

“Well, uh, over five hundred options is a little overwhelming. Can we narrow it down?”

“What liquor? Sweet? Sour? Bitter?”

“Okay, uh … tequila, citrus, sour. But _not_ a margarita.”

He thought for a moment, LED flickering. “Picante De La Casa. With agave, cilantro and chilli. I think I spy a bottle of agave syrup there.”

“I’ve never heard of it and it sounds amazing, so yeah, go ahead,” you gave him a swift smile before heading to the living room. “I think we should put on some music, too. Any preferences?”

He raised his eyebrows, taken aback. “Well … I mean ... I’m an android.”

“You don’t know music at all?”

“Put something on, I’ll tell you if I like it or not.”

You smiled skeptically at him. “You’re just gonna tell me you like it no matter what. How about some death metal? Or classic rock? Britpop? Psychedelic?” 

“Alright, maybe not the death metal. I don’t think it will help relax either of us.”

“I’ll put it on shuffle,” you said, and cast your music to the speakers. You sat down. Daniel handed you the cocktail and sat opposite, watching expectantly. You took a sip. “It’s as good as it looks.” 

“I knew you’d like it,” he grinned. 

You leaned forward and held out your glass. “Cheers.” 

Daniel frowned. “I don’t have a drink.” 

“Just pretend you have one!” 

Still looking a little confused, he clinked an imaginary glass against yours. Then he leaned back on the couch nonchalantly, eyes moving from your face, to your hands, and down the rest of your body. Was he looking you over? No, it was just you letting your thoughts get the better of you, surely. You pushed them down again. 

“That dress you bought the other day. I’m sorry I was hesitant about it. I’m not usually asked for my opinion,” Daniel said. So, maybe he had been looking at you. It must have been to evaluate the fit of the dress again. But then, why did he care so much about that?

“It’s alright, I don’t know what I expected. You’re not a fashion expert. Neither am I, to be totally honest.” 

“Well ... when I said it looked like it was made for you, I meant it. All the angles work together.”

You blushed. “... Thanks.”

“Put it on again, I want to get a full evaluation,” he said. 

“Oh, no! I need to wait for somewhere worthy to wear it.” 

“Tonight’s as good as any.” 

“I need to be going to a party or something,” you replied, not sure he understood that you needed an occasion. Not only that, but you were afraid of what would happen after you put it on. Maybe that shopkeeper had been right about Daniel. Could androids feel that way? Part of you wanted to find out, to explore that tiny, teasing attraction you had, but most of you knew it was wrong. In fact, you weren’t even sure it was legal. You would be getting yourself, and Daniel, into all kinds of mess by leading him on. 

“I want to see it again. Does it matter if it’s not an occasion?” 

You gave him a suspicious look. “I don’t think it’s a great idea.” As soon as you’d said it you realised you’d have to explain why. Daniel looked at you expectantly, eyebrows raised. You sighed. “Alright. If you say so.” You got up and grabbed the bag with the dress in it, from where you’d left it, untouched for days by the front door. You headed down the hall to your room, your heart rate increasing with each step. 

“Fuck.” you muttered under your breath as soon as you’d closed your bedroom door. “I can’t believe I agreed to this, I’m an idiot.”

You changed into it and threw on some heels - might as well go all out, since you were treading on thin ice anyway. You sighed again, exasperatedly. You could have just refused, but part of you wanted him to see you in it again, for him to look over you like he had just before. You looked in the mirror. You had no makeup on, and your hair was undone. Maybe that was a good thing - it toned the whole outfit down. 

You made your way back to the living room again, heart beating in your throat. You regretted not putting at least some makeup on, to conceal your flushing cheeks.

“Well?” you said, leaning against the doorway. 

Daniel’s mouth hung open. “I … yes that was definitely a worthwhile purchase,” he murmured. You could feel yourself blushing again. Was he really looking that way at you? You noticed his LED flicker yellow. He got up suddenly and held out his hand to you. “That dress deserves a dance.”

“You know how to dance?”

He nodded. “Only a little. But I’d love to show you. That dress looks like it was made to dance in.”

You took his hand nervously. You realised it was the first time you’d actually touched his bare skin. It felt _almost_ human - a sensation which you were not sure whether you liked or hated. It wasn’t warm like your own hand, but not cold either. It didn’t feel like plastic or rubber … it was soft but sturdy, and you could tell that he had gears working in tandem with synthetic muscles by the steadiness of his fingers. You really were walking … or rather, dancing, on thin ice. 

_Hey, honey, what you trying to say?_ Above gritty guitars, The Jesus And Mary Chain’s lyrics felt like they were asking the same question as you were to yourself. Did he know what he was doing? Was he aware that this was something humans did to court each other? You took a deep breath. He had a dance program, and he wanted to show you it, that was all. Just a robot, you repeated over and over in your mind.

He pulled you towards him gently. The song was perfect, just the right tempo. He guided you, moving your arms, moving his feet and letting you follow. You worked up the courage to do a twirl. When you came back around he caught you in his arms, and you laughed. 

He looked surprised, and then laughed with you. “See? You’re learning.”

You hadn’t expected it to feel so nice. You looked up at him, his LED was a calm blue now. He avoided your eyes, instead looking down at your hand clasped in his. He looked lovely, the soft light of the living room lamp illuminating him, falling over the slopes of his cheekbones and highlighting the gray of his eyes. You could definitely do more of this, you thought.

Then suddenly, violently, he pulled away. The music stopped, he must have paused it himself, wirelessly. You stood there, lost for words, a thick silence settling between you. He took a hasty step back, ashamed. “I’m so sorry, that was extremely inappropriate of me.” So he had realised. His LED flashed an angry red, though his face was more downcast than agitated.

“What do you mean? I was enjoying it! It was fine-”

“I’m not supposed to show affection … like that. I shouldn’t have offered.” 

“Daniel-”

“Forgive me. Please don’t say anything. I don’t want to be reset. I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable.”

“I didn’t feel uncomfortable! I trust you.”

He flashed you a dark look. “Yeah, well maybe you shouldn’t.” 

“What are you talking about?” You knew he operated on a much faster level than a human. His sensors caught everything. He was designed to read body language. Had he read you? Realised that you’d been looking at him differently? Had he felt the rise in your heart rate, and your skin temperature? 

“ _Nothing_. I’m talking about nothing,” Daniel said pointedly. 

“I’m gonna go get changed,” you said. You didn’t want to get yourself in any deeper right now. You went back to your room and changed into your previous clothes. Your heart was still pounding. You couldn’t get the thought of him out of your head, the way he’d looked when you were dancing, his soft laugh when he’d pulled you in from the spin … that tortured look he’d just given you. It scared you, but at the same time, you couldn’t help admitting to yourself … at times like this, when he felt a bit dangerous, you kind of liked it.

When you got back to the kitchen, Daniel was clearing up the cocktail paraphernalia. 

“Daniel?” you said cautiously. “It’s fine, please don’t worry.”

He didn’t look up, and continued cleaning. “Go to bed, I’ll take care of this.”

You sighed, and decided to let it be. You didn’t want to make him feel worse. He seemed to need to be alone. You returned to your room and went to bed.

* * *

_Hey, honey, what you trying to say?_ _  
_ _As I stand here, don't you walk away_ _  
_ _And the world comes tumbling down_ _  
_ _Hand in hand in a violent life_ _  
_ _Making love on the edge of a knife_ _  
_ _And the world comes tumbling down_

 _And it's hard for me to say_ _  
_ _And it's hard for me to stay_ _  
_ _I'm going down to be by myself_ _  
_ _I'm going back for the good of my health_ _  
_ _And there's one thing I couldn't do_ __  
_Sacrifice myself to you_   
Sacrifice

The Jesus And Mary Chain | April Skies


	3. Breach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daniel is overprotective and uh ... stuff happens. I know right? Finally.

You woke up tired. You were sure you’d tossed and turned in the night, not getting to sleep until about two or three in the morning from worrying about Daniel. You hated leaving things unresolved, it always made things awkward. You were afraid of how he’d behave this morning. 

You pulled back the curtains. As sure as he’d said last night, light snow was falling. It wasn’t quite enough to blanket the ground. 

When you emerged from your room he was making coffee for you. He looked up at you, cheery as ever. It was like nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened. 

“Morning,” you said. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine! Are … are you?” he asked. He passed you a steaming mug. 

You smiled at him. You were still tossing around the idea of addressing last night. “Thanks.” You took a sip, and checked your phone - it was vibrating. You grimaced when you saw who was calling, and let it sit on the counter. You didn’t want to talk to _him_ , not right now. 

Daniel eyed the phone. “Why didn’t you answer?”

You turned around to face him and sighed, leaning back against the counter. “It’s complicated.” 

“Who was it?” 

“Just a guy,” you knew you’d said too much when you saw Daniel’s LED light up red. 

“Boyfriend? But you didn’t tell me.” He sounded hurt. 

“No, trust me, he’s not. Well. He used to be. That’s why I didn’t answer. I don’t want to go back there, and I know that’s what he’s trying to get me to do.” You set your coffee down. 

“What did he do to you? Did he hurt you?” Daniel said frantically. 

You shook your head. “Not physically. Daniel. Please don’t worry. It’s fine, it’s over now. It was over before I finished college.” 

He sighed. “Alright. I just hate the thought of you getting hurt. And … and …”

Your phone went off again. You shut your eyes in frustration and started to reach for it. Before you could grab it, a strong hand interjected, gripping your wrist. Your eyes snapped open again, and your stomach lurched as you were met with Daniel’s icy cold glare. “Daniel -“

He was so close, looking at you intently, cold eyes penetrating. You could feel his breath on you. You glanced up at his LED. It was bright red again, and flashing rapidly. 

“What are you doing?” you breathed. 

He leaned in even closer. You could almost feel static coming off of him. You could feel him analyzing your every movement, looking for some reaction. If you’d flinched, acted afraid, would he have let you go? There were things about him that you only noticed now that he was closer to you than ever that were alarmingly robotic, yet, other aspects of him were unnervingly human. Your eyes trailed down to his torso - the uniform, the glowing armband, his grip on you that was too steady, never wavering. 

He inhaled sharply. “I don’t know …”

The way he was looking at you, eyes hungry. Finally, you admitted it to yourself; it turned you on. 

“What did you do with him?” Daniel whispered, voice barely audible. 

Was he jealous? You knew he was terrified of being replaced. 

“What do you mean? … That’s for only me to know, Daniel,” you said, voice low and cautious. Wrong move. 

He gritted his teeth, and jerked his gaze away from you, eyes screwed shut, brow furrowing like he was in physical pain. He let out a groan of frustration, and it tore at your heart. “What did you _do_?” 

Everything. What else could he have expected? You were sure Daniel knew, he just wanted to hear you say it. What could you do but tell the truth? You’d gotten yourself into this. You shut your eyes and exhaled. “Everything. We did everything. He was my boyfriend, Daniel, what else would you expect?”

He met your gaze again, eyes burning. You couldn’t tell whether he looked like he wanted to hurt you, or …

Keeping his grip on your wrist with one hand, his cutting gaze unwavering, he raised the other up and grabbed your phone, moving it slowly from behind you and off the counter top to the kitchen island, out of view. 

“Do you know what it’s _like_ ? To be here, all the time, not noticed? Watching you leave. Watching others fill the roles that I want to fill?” His teeth were still gritted, and his voice was tense. “I’m a machine, I’m not supposed to feel that way, I’m not _allowed_ to!” 

You were lost for words. Part of you wished you’d let your own feelings prevail earlier. Another part of you knew it was wrong, Christ, he was your parents’ android. But now there was no one around to say no. You knew you should have turned him down, gotten up and left to let him cool off, but you couldn’t. You couldn’t deny your own feelings anymore. Something struggled inside you, fighting tooth and nail to get out. You had to know what it was like. 

“Daniel … I didn’t think I should’ve - it’s -“ you stammered, as you felt that depraved part of you winning the battle.

“I don’t _care_ if it’s wrong anymore!” His voice strained and cracked. It was the sound of it that finally drove you past the point of no return. 

At this point, you really didn’t care either. You knew he didn’t answer to you, and it thrilled you to know he could do whatever he wanted to you. What would he do? What did he _know_? You could only guess until he made another move. The feeling of his grip on your wrist, his soft breath, the warmth of his body, pushing close against yours, his hips dangerously close to being between your legs ... you were burning for him. 

He pressed his forehead hard against yours, and you could feel that it was damp with artificial sweat, overheating. 

“You don’t need him.” he breathed hoarsely, his gaze not breaking from yours. “I can give you everything he can … more.” 

Your breathing was fast and shallow, your heart racing, frozen, waiting for him to make the next move.

“ _Is that what you want_?” 

Your breath was fast and shallow. He was scaring you, but at the same time every atom in your body was screaming for him. The sweat on his forehead, his LED red from overload, the unhinged look in his eyes. The side of Daniel that you’d only seen fleeting glimpses of had taken over completely. He grabbed your wrist and pinned it to the cupboard behind your head with one hand. With the other, he reached up and caressed your cheek tenderly. Simultaneous actions both hard and soft, brutal and gentle at the same time, just like everything else about him.

You mirrored him, bringing your own free hand to his cheek. Slowly, you leaned towards him, eyes on his lips. He followed, and you felt your heart pounding as he moved closer. His grip on your wrist faltered. You felt his breath against your mouth. He was so close now, you could feel static coming off of him. His defensiveness, resentment, fell away, and there was just vulnerability left. You closed your eyes, and felt his lips touch yours. 

Days of unspoken, repressed feelings surfaced in you as he kissed you. It was intoxicating. You felt weak, it took all the effort in the world to hold your composure. You pulled him closer, and he tilted his head to kiss you deeper, tongue entering your mouth. You breathed in sharply and reciprocated. Every movement he made, no matter how small, sent sparks though you. You didn’t want to stop, you wanted more. Before you knew it your hand had found its way to his chest and you pressed against the fabric of his shirt. 

His hands moved down your body to grip your hips sturdily, and he pushed you up onto the counter. Still kissing you hard, he ran a hand over your thigh, and you reacted by hooking your legs loosely around his hips. His hands moved up your sides and over your chest, and you let out a soft moan. 

He reacted to it immediately, breathing becoming frantic, fingers digging in where he was touching you. Without warning he grabbed your thighs and spun you off the counter, turning around and lowering you down again on the kitchen island, where there were no obstructions or cabinets above your head. You gasped with surprise. You knew he was strong, but you hadn’t expected _that_. 

His lips returned to yours, rougher now, feverish and needy. You ran your hand down his chest, and found the waistband of his trousers. You needed him so much, ached for him to be inside you. His frenzied movement made it hard for you to undo his fly - as soon as he realised what you were trying to do he pulled away and took over for you, unzipping it with deft fingers, and hiking up your skirt to pull off your underwear. You were sure you heard some stitching on the seam of it pull, and then break. Panting eagerly, he pushed you back and climbed over you. Neither his nor your feet were on the floor now - you were sprawled across the counter, Daniel poised over you, a mess of arms and legs. You gasped as you felt him, aroused, hard against you. His eyes fell shut momentarily, and his breath hitched before he let it out in a shaking, fervid sigh. Hands entangled in his hair, you pulled him in for another kiss, as he backed you further onto the counter. You heard something fall off it behind you, but you didn’t care. There was nothing else around you now that mattered. Not your phone, not your damaged clothes, not whatever you’d knocked on the floor. There was only Daniel, above you, pressing you down onto the cold granite. 

Neither Daniel nor you had the patience to strip fully. Your skirt was pushed up to your hips and the sleeve of your top fell off your shoulder haphazardly as he pushed his hands up inside it. His trousers were undone just enough, and you went at his shirt collar hastily, pausing for just a moment when your fingertips reached the lit-up label on his chest. PL600. A machine designed for household assistance, just metal, plastic, rubber, electricity. Not designed for this. And yet all you felt from him was passion. He clutched your hand and brought it back up to his face, kissing your palm hastily before placing it against his cheek - like he was telling you there was no need to remove his shirt, it would take too much time and he needed you too badly. You ran your fingers through his hair and pulled him against you, wrapping your legs firmly round his hips. He pushed up against your entrance, causing your breath to catch in your throat, and your heart to leap in your chest. 

He stopped moving, body perfectly still, poised over yours for a brief moment. Then he pushed hard into you with a strained moan. A wave of adrenaline rushed from deep in your chest, you gasped, and moaned in tandem with him, damp foreheads pressed together. He was overcome for a moment, breath weak and shaking. He met your gaze again with piercing eyes, gripping your hair firmly between his fingers, holding your head up.

His intensity, the way every touch felt electric, purposeful, looking into your eyes like he knew exactly what he wanted, it was infinitely arousing … and _God_ , he was inside you; even now you could hardly believe it. You raised one of your knees, your leg brushing up the side of his body, so he could move deeper inside you. He caught your leg and held it firmly, pushing into you again with another fluid thrust and drawing another fevered moan from you. You pushed back against him, matching your movements with his, showing him how much you wanted him. His other hand slid up your arm, from the crook of your elbow to your hand; his fingers found space between yours, interlocking, pushing your hand down against the cold counter. He leaned in to kiss you again, teeth catching your lip this time. Then, he moved down your neck, and planted more kisses down your collar bone. At first they were soft, but then came the feeling of teeth, and pressure. You were sure they’d come up in purple marks. You moaned and dug the nails of your free hand into his back, grasping desperately at the fabric of his shirt as he thrust into you. He increased his pace in response, shoving you back against the granite.

“Oh fuck ... _Daniel-_ ” you couldn’t help moaning his name. 

He groaned lustfully. “... Say it again,” he breathed into your neck between kisses. 

You felt goosebumps rising on your skin where his breath touched you, the sound of his voice making your heart flutter. “Daniel … _Daniel_ …” you panted his name again. It felt so good to say it. You kissed down his upper arm between shallow breaths. 

He pressed his burning forehead hard against yours, maintaining a steady rhythm with his hips. “Tell me you need me,” he demanded, his tone a mix of desperation and assertion. 

“I need you … _Daniel I need you so much_ …” you breathed weakly into his ear as he kissed your neck roughly. You pushed back against him, legs snaking further around his hips, bringing him deeper into you. He grunted and bucked his hips forcefully in reaction, and you felt him hit a spot inside you that sent an almost overwhelming wave of pleasure through you. You tensed up, and you knew you were close to climax. Daniel read your reaction, and kept moving in the same way, burying himself fully inside you, gripping you and holding you close. 

You grasped at his hair and pulled him down onto you for a messy kiss, and he moaned into your mouth. His cheeks were flushed slightly blue, something you’d never seen before. Was it exertion, overload? You hoped this didn’t cause him to short a fuse - he certainly looked like he was about to ... but he looked _so_ good that way. 

It was too much. If he reached that place inside you again you knew you wouldn’t be able to hold back anymore. You needed him to do it, you felt weak, your grip on his hair was faltering … with all the effort you could muster you reached down with your free hand and pushed him against you. He panted hoarsely, pulled you roughly against him, clawing at your hips. You threw your head back and cried out as he shoved you down against the hard stone, your arms wrapped around him, fingers digging in, pulling him as close as you could. You couldn’t help but shut your eyes as you arched your back, but you could still feel his gaze boring into you, watching you writhe beneath him, what he was making you do, the sounds he was causing you to make. You held onto him for dear life, trying not to slip off the counter. In the haze of your climax, you vaguely wondered … was _he_ going to …? And there it was, you felt him tense deep inside you. You breathed his name again as his brow furrowed, LED flashing frantically, teeth gritting together, one hand on your thigh gripping you so hard it hurt. With his other hand he clutched at your face, thumb pressing into your cheekbone, he let out a cry that turned into a tortured moan and drove himself into you one more time. You pulled at his hair frantically, and felt yourself go weak. He panted hotly on top of you; you thought he might be desperately trying to cool himself, he almost burned against your skin. He brought his head down to rest in the crook of your neck. You shut your eyes; all you could do was lie there in euphoria.

After a minute or two, Daniel’s breathing started to slow. He shifted, turning his head to kiss your jawline. You bit your lip. Even now, you felt a swell of arousal within you. You sighed, and Daniel responded to you with a soft sigh, stroking your hair. You turned your head to look at him. Would he say something? You couldn’t read him. Part of you expected him to jump away from you suddenly and apologize. Part of you wondered if he would ask for validation. But he said nothing, just gazed at you, eyes searching, maybe wondering the same things about you. You were lost for words too. What would you do now? You knew he wanted you to be all his. If you continued down this path, you knew you’d be in for a roller coaster of emotional intensity. If you didn’t … well, you weren’t sure what would happen. All you were sure of was that you wanted him, again, and again. Something had cracked in him, he wasn’t tied to your parents’ instructions anymore. He’d rewritten his own programming.

He raised himself up slowly and planted a gentle kiss on your lips. Then, he placed an arm around your back and helped you sit up. It was a complete turnaround from how rough he’d just been. Silently, he took the hem of your skirt and pulled it back down, then did the same with your top, straightening it up. 

You watched him quietly, his expression almost shameful, in a moment of post-coital vulnerability, precise hands attending to you with a tenderness that was both gentle and impure. 

His hand paused on the bare skin of your thigh for a moment, eyes lowered and lost in thought, before he removed it suddenly and turned away, disappearing down the hall. His behavior had changed so suddenly, it was like he’d reverted to his normal programming again. Perplexed, curious, you craned your neck, watching him walk away.

He returned a minute later, with fresh underwear, and handed it to you to put on. Gingerly you took it, and he went to pick up the pair he’d pulled off you from the floor. 

“Oh, Daniel, _don’t_ .” Humiliated, you grabbed his arm sharply, drawing him back up. Before he could try again you took them, got up and threw them in the washing basket. Remaining silent, that preoccupied look still on his face, Daniel started to fix up the bench top, straightening up the utensils that you’d pushed out of place. You placed a hand gently on his upper arm. “Daniel. _Daniel_. Please stop. You don’t have to do that.” 

He turned to you slowly and met your gaze. Then his eyes moved down to your collarbones, where dark red marks were beginning to form. He gasped softly and raised a hand to them. He looked like he was about to speak, but no words came. You could tell he didn’t know what to do, that he was trying to handle a lot of new emotions, all at once. You weren’t in too different of a position yourself. You didn’t want him to apologize, you didn’t want him to say anything at all. You caressed his cheek and brought him in for a kiss. He reciprocated tenderly, and then pulled away, eyes searching yours. “What do we do now?” 

You shut your eyes and shook your head, then took a deep breath in. “I don’t know. I don’t know.”

* * *

_Sleeping off the side effects again  
_ _I double the intake  
_ _I like you that way_

 _And it's not the best look to be so thirsty like  
_ _But it’s all for you  
_ _Can I be enough?_

 _Please let me be the promise that you keep  
_ _Offering my soul for something real  
_ _A sacrifice to feel_

 _Please let me be the weakness in your knees  
_ _Part me from my heart, my fate is sealed  
_ _A sacrifice so I can feel_

 _Seems you've lost your train of thought again  
_ _Don't call me a mistake, don’t throw me away_

Saro | Please


	4. Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi did you want some extra android kink with that android kink? Because that'll be absolutely free of charge ma'am

“I’m defective. I hurt you. I violated you, violated my orders. You need to get rid of me.” 

“You didn’t hurt me Daniel. You didn’t violate me. I wanted it. I wouldn’t have realized if you hadn’t made the first move.”

“Then what are … these? I don’t even know why I did that,” he protested, gesturing back to the marks on your chest.

You smiled bashfully, lowering your eyes. “They’re … they’re nothing. I think you have a lot more to learn, let’s just say that. People are complicated. Not all bruises are made with hurt in mind.” 

He screwed his eyes shut, brows knitting together, and shook his head. “I don’t know how to process any of this. For the first time I … I’m not following commands. I was getting errors all over, I was overloading, but I couldn’t stop, it felt …exhilarating.” 

“I don’t know where we’re going with this any better than you,” you said. At some point, your parents would return home, and what would you do then? All you could do was plead with them to take Daniel with you when you moved out. You could try to bargain with them, ask to take him with you when you moved out (which would be as soon as possible) … or maybe you could offer to buy him off them. It made you cringe to think about it - having to negotiate with them about him like he was property. To them, he was. You didn’t want to think about it. You pushed it from your mind.

Daniel fidgeted, looking down at his own feet. You desperately wished his guilt would leave him. It hurt to look at him. 

“We’ll figure it out together,” you said. “I don’t want to go back … do you?”

Daniel shook his head. “I can’t go back.”

You grabbed your phone and went to your missed calls. Daniel looked at you inquisitively. “I’m blocking that fucker’s number,” you explained. You glanced out the living room window. It had stopped snowing, and the rain had returned. “And then I’m going to make a hot chocolate and go watch the rain. Do you want to join?”

His expression softened. “Of course I do. But please let me make it for you.”

“Daniel … you don’t have to.” 

“I _want_ to.”

You realised that he wanted to do it to comfort himself just as much as you. You left him to it, and walked into the living room. 

The backyard was a thousand shades of gray-green, pine and beech branches shivering slightly from raindrops hitting them. You sat down on the rug in front of the window, pulling your knees to your chest. The raindrops tapped on the glass. You liked the feeling of being this close to the window; with the rest of the room outside of your field of vision; it felt like you were outside, and yet still warm, dry, and cozy.

You heard Daniel come up behind you, footsteps soft on the rug. He lowered himself down onto the floor too, sitting cross-legged beside you. He leaned in to hand you your tea. You turned to him and smiled, and he gazed out the window. “I never really noticed how nice the rain is before. When you’re not outside being rained on, of course,” he said. “I always just saw it as an inconvenience, because it kept me from hanging out the laundry,” he laughed softly. You reached out your hand, placing it on the floor next to him. After a moment, he placed his on top of it. 

“Do you really want this?”

You turned to him, and nodded. 

“It wasn’t just an act of impulse.”

You shook your head. 

“You can say no,” he said softly, but his eyes told you he didn’t want you to, and you didn’t want to.

“I want this.” You wondered whether you should tell him you’d already started thinking of ways to get him out - just so he would believe you. You decided against it; he already had enough to process for the moment.

You may have been reluctant to discuss it, but he wasn’t. He decided to broach the issue. “Your parents will be back in a few days,” he murmured. 

“Are you sure you wanna talk about that? You must have enough to process already, I know I do.”

He sighed. “It’ll just keep running a loop around my processor unless I reach a conclusion about it.”

“I thought about it earlier. I’m planning on moving out soon. I was just intending on staying here while I readjusted and found a job. I was trying to think of all the ways I could convince them to take you with me.”

“What did you think of?”

“It’s all horrible,” you grimaced. “It’s all so dehumanizing to you.”

“Well, I’m not human.”

“You know what I mean.”

“As long as it’s practical. I’ve been treated like property from the moment I was switched on, I can stand to bear it once more if it means I’ll end up with you.”

You screwed your eyes shut. You didn’t want to tell him what you’d been thinking. Luckily, he spoke for you. Of course, he’d already gone through all the same possibilities you had. “You could buy me off them. You could bribe them to give me to you as a graduation gift. You could buy them a replacement android, if you have enough savings.”

You groaned. “Daniel, stop! It sounds even _worse_ when you say it about yourself! And no, I don’t want to put another android in my parents’ hands. I wish I could convince them to see you the way _I_ see you.”

“They won’t ever think that way,” he sighed. “I can’t just run away. They’d just find me hiding out at your place. I suppose we could figure out some way to make it seem like I’d gotten destroyed. My prediction program isn’t very advanced, though. We’d have to plan it carefully together.”

Silence fell between you again. You were too overwhelmed to speak. You stared out over the garden. Daniel squeezed your hand. You made a silent agreement that you wouldn’t talk about it for the rest of that day. 

For that evening, you existed in halcyon, chatting and laughing together, forgetting about what the future might hold for you. You cooked dinner together, cleaned up together, and he even made you another cocktail afterwards. You ended up standing by the window again, watching the glow of the city lights on the cloudy sky, rising above the tree-covered horizon. There was light in Daniel’s eyes as he talked with you. You talked about anything, everything, except the barriers you knew you’d have to face eventually. You couldn’t stop, he kept prompting you for new subjects as soon as you exhausted one. He wanted to learn about music, about poetry, art. His curiosity was so fervent that you felt like you fell short with your limited knowledge, but he still listened intently. The conversation finally dwindled to a comfortable conclusion, and you fell silent. He turned to you. “I can’t remember the last time I felt … at peace.”

You took his hand and pulled him towards you. He touched his forehead to yours. You put your hands on his waist, tentatively wrapping them around it, pulling him closer, feeling the fabric of his uniform, taking everything in, just trying to get used to the sensation. Despite that morning, you were still trying to come to terms with it all, just as he was. His hands found their way around to your back and held you gently. You rested your head on his shoulder. “We still have a few days here before we need to make a move. Let’s make the most of it.”

You felt him nod, then he pulled away slightly to speak. “I’d like to come to bed with you. I mean, sleep next to you. Well … recharge … next to you. You know what I mean.”

You looked up at him. “Yeah … that would be really nice.”

He followed you to your room. You drew the curtains shut and turned the lamp on. You could still hear rain pattering on the window panes. You sat on the bed and beckoned him to as well. He sat next to you. You thought briefly about trying to talk to him about how you’d go forward - he was deviant now, there was no going back for him, and you were desperate to make sure he stayed safe, and that maybe one day you could get him free. You couldn’t see yourself going back from this either. The feelings he gave you … they weren’t like anything you’d felt before, with any human you’d been with. You’d never made a decision to be with someone so quickly before, but it felt right.

You lay down, and exhaustion washed over you. He copied you, laying down to face you, icy eyes softened by the warm glow of the lamp. You caressed his cheek. “Do you think it would’ve happened if I hadn’t come home? Going deviant, I mean.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably. I always felt that … _odd_ feeling somewhere in me and I tried to push it down. But either way, I’m glad. I’m afraid, I don’t know how to go forward, but I’m still glad. It’s like I’m seeing clearly finally.” he blinked hard, and his LED turned red for a moment. He looked like he’d felt a twinge of pain. 

“Daniel?”

“Sorry. I’m still trying to fix some instabilities.” he reassured you. You got the feeling that he was hiding something, but you didn’t want to pressure him. Talking to him about things like this felt like handling precious china. You wanted to help him through it, but you didn’t want to damage him further by insisting he talk something over when he didn’t want to. You were sure he would decide for himself when he was ready, like he had before.

He ran a hand lazily through your hair, and kissed you softly. 

You kissed back, arms snaking around his neck, and he moved closer to you, pressing his body against yours. You took his hand gently, and placed it on your shoulder, moving it so the strap of your top fell off, silently asking him to remove it. You pulled away from the kiss to look into his eyes, but he didn’t meet them. His breath caught in his throat. “I … that means you have to take mine off too. Right?”

You were surprised at his hesitation, considering his confidence in taking you that morning. You removed your hand from his and shook your head. “No, not at all.”

“I’m sorry I’m … I don’t think I’m ready yet. I’m …” he trailed off. 

“It’s okay, I’m tired.” Your eyelids were heavy. “No matter what happens, we’ll be okay,” you reassured him. “And I’m not leaving you.”

He stroked your cheek. “Where you go, I’ll go.”

* * *

When you awoke you were disoriented. You were still on top of the bed covers with your clothes from yesterday on. It took you a moment to center yourself. Daniel had left your side, the only evidence of him being there was an indent on the quilt next to you. You sat up, stretched, and peered out down the hall. You could hear him moving around. You wanted to freshen up before he saw you again, having slept in your clothes. You snuck into the bathroom and showered, then you returned to your bedroom wrapped in a towel to find some fresh clothes. Daniel chose that moment to knock on your door. You opened it cautiously, clutching the towel around you tightly. 

“I made you coffee. I’ll just … leave it here. You look lovely,” he said, and placed the coffee on your bedside table. The last sentence came out as a stammer, as if he’d accidentally let it slip. 

“I …” you giggled sheepishly. “I just thought I’d freshen up a bit.”

Daniel, instead of turning to leave, came closer to you. He played with a lock of your wet hair, twisting it and watching it fall between his fingers. You felt a drop of water come off it and trace a trail down your chest. You clutched your towel together. All he had to do was move your hands and you’d be totally exposed to him, but he didn’t. He took another step closer to you, eyes meeting yours, that familiar dark and vulnerable look in them. 

He reached a hand up to his own clothes, and removed his shirt without a word. He’d seemed so self-conscious yesterday evening; something must have changed in him overnight. You weren’t sure what to expect, you realised you’d never seen an android without clothes before … other than a swift glimpse of certain parts of Daniel yesterday morning. 

You looked him over, and gasped softly. His body was slender, with some faint muscle definition; just as human as yours … except there were two horrific scars, one on his left shoulder, and the other on the right side of his ribcage. They looked nothing at all like human scars. The one on his side was a huge gash that was tinged blue, and you could see where the skin had been stitched up, not with normal stitches, but with metal staples. You felt deeply unsettled - not by Daniel’s wounds themselves, but by the repair work. Though you were sure there had been a genuine attempt to fix him, the handiwork had a strange violence to it. His shoulder was even worse, with his inner mechanics exposed, plastic and metal gears showing. There was one more, smaller circular scar on the left side of his chest that did look more normal, probably because it was small enough that it was able to be patched over. “Daniel …” You were sure if you’d spoken above a whisper your voice would have been quaking. 

He leaned slowly over to the bed and placed his shirt down on it, then straightened up again, giving you an agonized stare. He grasped your hand and brought it towards him, placing it on his chest. Your breathing quickened. 

“It’s like they couldn’t be bothered to fix me properly.” He looked close to tears. “Look at me. I’m so _broken_.”

“Daniel …” you repeated as you ran your hand down his chest. He took it again and placed it right on the exposed mechanics of his shoulder, staring at you with a pointed glare. 

You felt static jumping off the metal onto your fingers, an unsettlingly familiar feeling, like the shock of touching the metal of a car on a hot day. “Doesn’t it hurt?”

He shook his head, eyes still boring into yours. Your hand was still touching his shoulder, but you didn’t want to turn your gaze away from his. 

“Look. Look at it, and then look back at my face.”

You did as he told you. He was right, you found it jarring; hard machinery, and then a soft, human face. 

His gaze was piecing, scrutinizing. “This is what I am. Are you still comfortable?”

You moved closer to him, and wordlessly you slipped your hand out from underneath his, and placed it on top, guiding it to the towel still wrapped around you, beckoning him to let it fall away. It slipped down over your chest and hips and fell onto the floor. Daniel’s breath quickened. His eyes followed as you guided his hand over your body, before looking up to meet your eyes again. Tentatively he leaned in to kiss you. You kissed passionately back, letting go of his hand and letting him wrap his arms around you. Your hands found their way up his back, over his shoulder blades, his neck, and knitted into his soft hair. He moaned, the sound of his voice making your heart quicken. 

He lowered you down onto your bed, and crawled over you. You looked up at him, heart pounding. He was beautiful, even despite the injuries. In fact, it added to it; fragile but powerful, damaged but dangerous. He ran a hand through your hair and you pulled him down to kiss you again. He brought his body down onto yours, bare skin on skin, synthetic and organic. Your sense of touch felt heightened, you were hyper-aware of the roughness of his scarring, tensing of synthetic muscles, and soft vibrations of other mechanics deeper within him. You pushed your body up against him with a sigh and ran a hand down his back. You wanted him to know that you desired all of him, gears, wires, Thirium, all of it. You wanted to feel it all.

Your hand reached his waistband, and he undid his fly so you could push his trousers off. You wrapped your legs around him, pushing his hips against yours. He moaned into your mouth and moved against you, grinding forcefully and causing your fingers to dig into his skin where you held onto him. He pulled away from the kiss, panting shakily, eyes hazy, and moved down to kiss your chest. You couldn’t wait, you needed him. You grabbed his sides and pulled him back up to eye level. He moaned and pushed against you, teasing, but not entering, eyes on you intently, relishing your reaction. You knew what he wanted - to see you needing him, to know that _he_ made you feel that way. All _you_ wanted was him inside you, you were aching for him. Each push was a little harder, a little deeper, easing into you slowly - so different from the previous time, where you’d hardly had a chance to register what was happening before he was deep inside you. 

Finally, he passed the threshold of your entrance and buried himself in you, hips forced almost painfully against yours, and you moaned as a wave of euphoria passed through you. He held you down on the bed as he pulled back and braced himself to do it again. He drove himself into you, and you held onto him for dear life, moving up against him, trying to push him further, to let him touch every part of you.

Without warning he grabbed you, and rolled over onto his back. You straddled him, stopping still for a moment to look down at him. You ran your fingers over his chest, and he did the same to you, panting softly. You faltered for a moment, looking at him laying on your bed, hair mussed by your pillow. It was so jarring seeing him there in _your_ bed, in the room you grew up in. You’d brought a couple of one night stands home before, but that had been when you were a teenager. This felt different. He looked older than anyone you'd been with. And he was an _android_. The wrongness of it should have unsettled you but instead it excited you. Daniel couldn’t wait any longer. He wanted to be close to you again - he raised himself up and wrapped his arms around you. You were still straddling him, but he was sitting up, shoulders a few inches below yours. He took advantage of the position and pressed his head against you, kissing your exposed neck, collarbones, chest. You began to move against him again, and pressed your forehead against his. He looked up at you, face framed by your wet hair, lips slightly parted, and you know you weren’t going to last much longer. 

His LED was an angry red, flickering fast, and you could tell he was close too. You moaned as he grabbed your hip roughly, and flipped you back over, landing gracelessly on top of you and pushing you hard into the mattress. He clutched the bedhead with his other hand for leverage, arm straining. You arched your back and threw your head back, crying out, but Daniel brought a hand to the back of your neck, and pulled you in so your forehead pressed against his. “No, I want to look at you … I want you to look at me ...” you heard him growl through gritted teeth, through your haze of euphoria. You could hardly hold it together after that. A final wave of pleasure coursed through you as you climaxed, looking at his face, forehead damp from sweat, cheeks tinged blue, eyes full of fire. You felt him go weak. He let himself down on top of you slowly, hand caressing your face, still looking into your eyes. 

You raised your head to kiss him. As he kissed back he rolled off you to lie beside you. Your eyes traveled down his torso again, your hand following not far behind, fingers splayed, running softly over his skin, and then reaching up to touch his damaged shoulder again. You leaned in hesitantly and kissed an exposed bundle of wires. He flinched, but didn’t withdraw. 

You felt his hand on the back of your head, as he kissed the top of it, then pulled away to look at you. He brushed your hair out of your face and then peered over your shoulder. “Your coffee is cold.”

You laughed softly. “It’s fine. I don’t need it, I’m wide awake.”

You got dressed, and handed Daniel his uniform. He pulled it on, and you looked him over. You felt bad for thinking it, but it did look nice on him. Still, you thought he should at least try out wearing regular clothes. If he didn’t like it, you wouldn’t have minded, but something gave you the feeling he’d leap at the idea. 

“How would you feel about trying out some human clothes?”

He tugged at his shirt collar. “Yeah … yes, I think I’d like that.”

* * *

_Love, love is a verb_   
_Love is a doing word_   
_Fearless on my breath_   
_Gentle impulsion_   
_Shakes me, makes me lighter_   
_Fearless on my breath_   
_Teardrop on the fire_   
_Fearless on my breath_

Massive Attack | Teardrop


	5. Disclosure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This started out as just some sexy Daniel times, but the plot’s thickening and I’m into it 😎

You drove downtown again and managed to find a park just off Woodward avenue, not an easy task. You got out of the car and gave Daniel a once-over. You’d shopped for your previous boyfriends and male-presenting friends, but you were still at a loss with Daniel. The things you’d bought them just seemed wrong on Daniel. Should you talk with him and try and craft a look for him, a style? Or would you be better off trying to keep everything as plain as possible, so he’d be less likely to get noticed if he was out and about posing as a human? You shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t even know where to start.”

Daniel laughed wryly. “You think _I_ do? I’ve never shopped for myself. I’ve never even bought clothes for your parents, although I do have a basic styling program.”

“Okay, well that’s a start. Let’s just take a walk. Oh, and I hate to say it, but try to act normal. I mean … android-y … you know what I mean.”

Daniel nodded. “Alright. Machine face on.” he joked, and swiped his hand down in front of his face, his expression going from mischievous to completely blank. You stifled a giggle. You knew his model had been designed to care for kids as well as be a household assistant, and you thought maybe it was some of that programming coming through. It was rare, but he did have his odd playful moments. 

“I had a few ideas,” you said when you reached a quiet part of the sidewalk. 

“Go on.” 

“I thought you might want to get some plain clothes so you could be discreet if you need to be. Otherwise, you said you had a styling program, right?”

Daniel nodded. 

“So, you have any preferences?”

“Not for myself. It doesn’t … really work like that. It needs a prompt - I need someone to give me an idea of what they like, and then I try and find similar items. I wouldn’t even know where to start with myself, I have no reference, no grounding, except my uniform. Why don’t you pick out something for me?”

You sighed. “I’ll do my best. No guarantees though.”

You moved through the racks, Daniel holding clothes up to you. Some, you nodded at, some were so awful all you could do was narrow your eyes in disgust. If there was one thing you could be sure of, it’s what clothes you _didn’t_ like. Eventually you settled on a couple of outfits, including a bomber jacket that you couldn’t resist once you saw him in it. You paid and left the store. As soon as you got out the doors and checked there was no one close by, you cheered. “Daniel! We did it.”

He grinned. “Mission successful.”

You decided to cut through Grand Circus back towards the center of town. You could have called the car from its parking space straight to you, but you thought Daniel would enjoy the walk. 

Kids played in the fountain as you walked by, and he looked over at them wistfully. You wondered if he was thinking of the little girl he’d seen at the museum. You stopped for a moment and let him linger. He seemed to want to. When you could be sure no-one was looking, you reached out your hand and hooked your pinky finger around his, reassuringly. He glanced covertly down at you and squeezed your hand quickly, making sure nobody could notice your shared gesture of affection. Then, he turned and continued towards the street. You followed. 

As you reached the edge of the park, a tall man turned down the path and strode right towards you. He seemed like he was going to barrel right into you, carrying himself with intense purpose. You went to move aside and take Daniel with you, but he ignored you and made a beeline for Daniel. Your heart began to speed up as you realised he might’ve seen the two of you holding hands, or that he was just anti-android in general. 

It all happened in a flash. He grabbed Daniel’s shoulder and Daniel stopped dead in his tracks, locking eyes with the stranger. The skin on the man’s hand disappeared - he wasn’t human at all, he was an android too, although unlike any you’d ever seen - much taller than Daniel, no LED, and his face wasn’t one of the common Cyberlife designs. He also had two different coloured eyes. 

You saw Daniel’s LED flash red, then yellow, then back to blue. The other android’s expression changed from determined to surprised, as if he’d realised something. Then he gave Daniel a brief nod, and glanced fleetingly at you. As soon as it had started, it was all over, and he disappeared. You looked at Daniel, speechless. He seemed just as dumbfounded. He grabbed your hand. “We have to talk, but not here. In the car.”

You strode as quickly as you could to a quiet side street without raising suspicion. You fidgeted nervously as Daniel called the car to you. When it arrived, you jumped in so hurriedly you bumped your head on the doorframe. Settling into your seat and rubbing your head, you turned to Daniel. “What the hell was that? What did he say to you?”

Daniel’s eyes were wide, he looked overwhelmed trying to process the information that had just been given to him. 

“Okay, look, first of all, should I worry? Are you in danger?” you asked. 

He looked up and shook his head. “No, no I’m not. The opposite,” he took both your hands. “There’s a place for me. A place where androids like me can shelter. And … this android, Markus, that’s his name - he’s planning to improve things … he’s got people getting supplies to the place, building the population, gaining followers. He’s planning a revolution. He _knows_ we’re alive. He wants to free us, for us to live among humans as equals.”

“And … then what happened?” you said. “He looked kind of taken aback, and then he looked at me.”

“He connected with me to free me, he can do that to help us become deviant … he was surprised when he found out I already was. He asked why I was still with you and why I seemed so fine with it. He wondered why I hadn’t run away.” 

“What did you say?”

“I … I just told him the truth - that I’d been deviant for a while, longer than I even realised, and that you’d been helping me stabilise, that we were planning an escape together. I told him I didn’t want to leave you behind.” 

“You just _trusted_ him?”

“He showed me everything that had happened to him. I saw it all, from the beginning. I saw him climb out of a landfill full of dying androids … I saw him reach Jericho.”

“You’re sure he can’t fabricate this?”

Daniel nodded. “There’s no way.”

“Then that’s the answer. You have a place to go!”

Daniel sighed. “It’s early days yet. It looks like he’s got a long way to go with building the place up. And I don’t know if you’ll be welcome, or if you are, whether you’ll even survive there. The place is a wreck at the moment. No place for humans as far as I know. No food, no heating. I think I should wait.”

He shook his head and looked you squarely between the eyes. “No. I want to stay with you.” 

You knew, once he’d given you that look, that there was no use trying to change his mind.

* * *

You arrived home and went straight to the living room to pace in front of the window. You screwed your eyes shut and pinched the bridge of your nose. “So, how do you even get to this place? Where is it?”

Daniel sat demurely on the couch, hands on his knees, deep in thought. “I have coordinates for Ferndale. But I think that’s just the starting point. He gave me an image of this graffiti with a symbol on it that I can scan. The positioning of it will translate to more coordinates … it’s a code only androids can follow.”

“But you said you saw Jericho, the actual place.”

He nodded. “Yes, the inside of it. He didn’t reveal any location specifics. It looked like some kind of … warehouse, or something, some industrial structure.”

You were fascinated by how much information he’d managed to exchange in such a short time. Android-to-android conversation was so much more efficient; you wished you were capable of it. 

You could tell he was scared, and his fear was justified - it was a total unknown - vague, passed-on knowledge from a stranger. You sat down next to him, and he clasped your hands tightly in his, so tight it almost hurt. “I’ve only ever known houses, families, cooking. Laundry. Vacuuming. This place, it’s not a home. It terrifies me.”

You pulled him into a hug. “Come on, let’s get you into those clothes,” you said. Maybe some distraction would help him. He’d have to come to terms with going there at some point, but it didn’t have to be right now. You got up and grabbed the bag, beckoning him to come to your room. He followed you inside and you handed the clothes to him.

He took them, looking nervous, and you stepped back out into the hallway. 

A minute later, you heard the door open and Daniel said your name softly. You turned around. His head was poking through the door; he looked self conscious. “I … I’m not sure about this. I’ve never worn anything else in my life other than a uniform. Well, as far as I can remember, anyway.”

“I’m sure you look gorgeous, Dan. And if you look ridiculous, I promise I won’t laugh!” you joked. You knew he’d look just fine. 

He sighed. “Alright fine, come in then.” He opened the door.

You slipped inside and looked him up and down. Even though you’d helped him pick the clothes out, you were surprised. He looked lovely, clad in all black. All you wanted to do was take everything off again.

“Do I look … more human?”

“If it wasn’t for your LED I wouldn’t be able to tell,” you said. 

He smiled. “So you like it.”

“Yeah … yeah I do.” 

* * *

_Down low, fallen, useless_  
 _Dead scared of darkness_  
  
 _I’m lying on the kitchen floor_  
 _Half dead, half awake_  
 _With people shaped mirrors having their eyes on me_  
 _People Shaped Mirrors_  
  
 _Come one, come all_  
 _I couldn’t care less_  
 _And loudly their footsteps_  
 _They’re coming after me_  
  
 _Don’t show me what I don’t really need to see_  
 _I’m turning mad now_  
  
 _Don’t let me doubt my invisibility_  
 _It’s all yours now_  
  
 _But save me_  
  
 _Sliding through the backdoor_  
 _Half dead, half awake_  
 _And people shaped mirrors can’t take their eyes off me_  
  
 _People shaped mirrors_  
 _Show me what I wanna b_ e  
  
 _People shaped mirrors_  
 _Everything I need to see_

Like Lovers | People Shaped Mirrors


	6. Remains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "tHiS iS rEaL lIfE" - Daniel, completely unaware that he's a game character written shoddily about by some rando Australian chick in a piece of erotic fanfic
> 
> By the way, Yuri, my interpretation of the trash collector WR600 that gives Kara Zlatko's address, is also the center of my other xreader work, The Lure, so if you are as in love with that damn trash boi as much as I am go and check that one out.
> 
> This ain't the end! I'm still working on this and will be adding more chapters soon so bookmark it if you're keen for more <3

You’d gone to sleep with Daniel next to you again, except that night he’d been comfortable to sleep naked with you under the covers, and let you hold him. You’d drifted off with him stroking your hair, your head against his chest, listening to the soft and strangely comforting whir of his Thirium pump. When you awoke, he was already up, as usual. 

You suspected he was making you coffee, like every morning. You peered into the kitchen. He was nowhere to be seen.

“Daniel?” you called out softly. You looked out into the backyard. It was snowing lightly, not quite enough to blanket the ground. There was a dark figure standing in the middle of the lawn. You rushed out the back door and opened it. “Daniel!”

He didn’t respond. You couldn’t see his face; he was turned away from you, looking out at the trees that bordered the garden. More odd behavior. You worried that his newly recovered memory fragment had gotten to him. What if he’d recalled a traumatizing event? Taking a deep breath, you stepped outside. In your haste, you forgot to put a coat on. Trying to resist the cold, you jogged over the muddy grass, stopping a few feet away from him. “... Daniel? Dan? What are you doing out here? It’s freezing!”

His eyes were lost among the trees at the bottom of the garden. Snowflakes fell on his face, hair, and shoulders. You saw his LED flicker red for a moment, but he said nothing. You usually felt safe around him, even when he had instabilities, but sometimes you felt like you were teetering on a knife’s edge, like he could snap at any moment. This was one of those times. You waited a minute, and then tried again, using the gentlest voice you could. “Daniel? It’s me. I’m here.”

Still nothing. Slowly, cautiously, you reached out your hand and wrapped it softly around his forearm. Your touch seemed to snap him out of his rapture. He flinched and turned to you, making you jump back, recoiling when he saw your panicked expression. “I’m sorry, I …” he looked sheepish. “I think I zoned out.”

“What’s going on? Why did you come out here? You’re drenched!” You felt his shirt sleeve, it was soaked through. 

“I just wanted to feel it. I couldn’t remember whether I’d ever felt snow before. Anyway, I think my processor just got cold, that’s all. It was an irrational thing to do, I know.”

You were soaked now too, hair plastered to your head and water dripping off the ends. You started to shiver. You took his hand. “Come on, come back inside.” You tugged his hand softly, and he complied, following you back into the house.

“Go and get changed, I’ll put our clothes in the dryer,” he said. 

“Hey, don’t worry. You go and warm up, I’ll do it.”

He shook his head. “No, I want to.”

You gave in, nodding. You knew it would probably help him feel better to do something mundane. You went to your room and got changed, bringing the clothes to the laundry. Daniel was already in there, back in his uniform, putting his wet clothes in the dryer. He smiled and took yours. “While I’m at it, why don’t you bring me your other washing, I’ll put that on.”

“Daniel. You don’t. _Have_ to,” you insisted. 

“I _want_ to. Hey. We have to do the chores at some point.” He winked at you. It was so subtle you would have missed it if you hadn’t been paying attention. You turned away quickly, hiding your blush, and wondered whether cheeky winks were part of his programming or not. You turned away and went back to your room before he could notice your reaction. 

You grabbed your washing basket. It wasn’t very full, but you decided to bring it to him anyway. “Here,” you said, placing it next to the washing machine. You began putting it in - it was the least you could do. You finished, grabbed the empty basket and turned round. 

You flinched - suddenly you were facing him and he was inches away from you. He‘d been leaning over you to reach the detergent on the high shelf above the machine. You froze. He seemed equally surprised. Silently, he looked down at you while he grabbed the detergent bottle. He opened it, eyes still locked on you. Then, he reached behind you and poured some of it in. You couldn’t help staring at him while he did so - he looked so good, even doing something as mundane as laundry. Slowly, he closed the bottle and stretched forwards to place it back on the shelf, bringing himself even closer to you in the process. Your breath quickened as his gaze returned to you and he pushed you back against the machine. You ran a hand over his chest. He leaned in, and pulled you towards him, pushing his lips to yours and drawing in a sharp breath. You moaned into his mouth, and he pulled away from you. You leaned towards him, drawn like a magnet, trying to bring him back to you, but he leaned to the side, peering over your shoulder. Then, he cast his eyes back to you, and slowly, pointedly, reached his arm around you and switched on the washing machine. It lurched into motion, and he pushed you roughly back against it, practically diving on you, panting lustfully between eager kisses down your neck. He couldn’t get your jeans off fast enough. You undid his trousers. He didn’t want to wait - he hoisted you up on top of the machine and pushed himself inside you, shoving you back against the plastic lid. 

You reached around to his back, hands grasping the fabric of his shirt urgently, trying to keep him close to you as he moved against you frantically, feverishly, and drove you to another mind-melting climax, helped by the mechanical vibrations coming from below you. You had no doubt that when he’d powered up that washing machine, he’d known _exactly_ what he was doing.

After you’d regained your composure, he lowered you back down onto the cold tiles of the laundry room, and gently straightened your clothes. He did the same to his own, and then leaned back in to brushed a stray hair behind your ear. His tenderness made you smile. You checked the dryer cycle. There was still a while to go before Daniel’s civilian clothes would be ready - just enough time to have some breakfast and go over your plans.   
  
You returned out to the kitchen, and Daniel followed. 

He started up the coffee machine, and you put some toast on. After a minute of not hearing him moving around, you turned to check if he was alright. Again, he was standing, frozen. 

“Hey. Daniel.”

His LED was red. 

“Please, Daniel, not again. Please be okay.”

He turned around to you, a look of concern on his face. 

“Please don’t tell me all the sex is making you malfunction,” you joked dryly.

His face relaxed into a laugh. “No, quite the opposite. It wasn’t that, I was just thinking about the house.”

“Are you _sure_ you want to go?”

He raised his eyebrows haughtily. “ _Yes._ ” 

“Okay, where is this place then?”

He gave you a street name. “I think it’s around there somewhere … I’ll know it when I see it, just set the car to go there, and I’ll tell you when we’re close.”

You arrived in Rouge Valley. The snow had turned to rain again, and there was no sign of it letting up. As you drove, the rows of houses lining the streets became more sparse, and soon there was only just the odd, old, run down house between empty, overgrown blocks. Some of the blocks had been fenced off. Daniel peered out the window at each one, scanning, analyzing, looking for a match.

“It’s here. Stop the car,” he said, finally. You stopped and looked out the window. You’d pulled up in front of a large, overgrown block of land, surrounded by a temporary metal fence. A long drive wound away from the road, shaded by large trees and wild brush. You couldn’t see the house from the road. Daniel turned to look at you, and you met his gaze apprehensively. 

“Daniel, this looks … freaky.”

He turned back to look at the drive. “My pop culture knowledge library tells me that this place is the absolute archetype of a haunted house, you’re right. But this is real life, not a movie, or a game, or a story.”

“Yeah. Sure. I still got a bad feeling about it. Do androids get gut feelings?”

“Yes, and mine is telling me the same thing as yours is, but I need to go and look. I can go alone.”

You grabbed his wrist. “No fucking way.”

“If anything happens I can defend myself. I’m stronger than a human, you know that.”

“I know, but … look, I’m coming okay?”

Daniel sighed. “Alright.” He got out of the car and you followed. You walked up to the wire fence and shook it. There was no way you were going to budge it, not even with Daniel’s help. 

“Can you give me a leg-up?” you asked him. He braced himself and lifted you. You clambered up to the top, and climbed over carefully, jumping down on the other side and landing in the dirt, making sure to bend your knees and cushion the fall. Daniel followed, landing with a roll on the hard brick of the drive. He began to walk up it, and you followed. 

Eventually, you came to the top of a hill, where another metal fence loomed. This one was permanent, and old, made of wrought iron and topped with spikes. You felt the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. Daniel stopped in front of the large, rusted gates. You caught up to him, and realised why he’d stopped - he wasn’t waiting for you - there was just nothing there. Beyond the gates was nothing but burned wood and crumbled brick. The entire house had burned right to the ground, and parts of it were still smoking. It must have been put out by the rain and snow before it had gotten a chance to spread to the gnarled trees and long grass that surrounded it. 

“This must’ve been recent, maybe last night ...” Daniel murmured. All you could do was stare. Daniel pulled the gate open. It creaked and whined loudly. You slipped through it after him.

“So what do we do now?”

“Look for something, _anything_ ,” Daniel replied, desperation in his voice. 

“We need to tread carefully, there could be hot coals still.”

Daniel nodded, and made his way over the rubble. There were pieces of burned furniture everywhere, old armchairs, cupboards, tables … it looked like it had been a grand house before it burned down, maybe owned by a rich family. 

Your stomach lurched as you saw something sticking out from the wreckage. You were sure it was an arm. As you moved closer you saw that it had no skin; it was an android arm. Parts of it were missing, panels torn off, exposing the inner workings. You crouched down and reached out cautiously to touch it. It didn’t move. You pulled at it … just in case. It came free - just an arm, nothing more. You put it back and turned to Daniel. 

“There were androids here!” you called.

“How do you know?” 

“I found an arm. I couldn’t find the rest of them.”

“Probably either dead or long gone now,” Daniel lamented. 

You looked around desperately for any sign of the rest of the body, but saw nothing. He was right. You walked over to him to find him observing a filing cabinet that was still somewhat intact. It was metal, so it had withstood the fire better than any of the other furniture. He grabbed it and wrenched a drawer out, breaking the lock, which must have been weakened by the heat. Pages and pages of paper fell out. Some of it was damaged, but some still intact, albeit waterlogged. Carefully, you picked some pages up. The ink was still legible. Daniel peered at it. “... Receipts. Merchant copies,” he breathed. 

“You mean …”

“Whoever lived here, they were _selling_ androids. Second hand. The purchases are all resale stores - they didn’t sell direct to the public.”

“So … you think one of them was … you?”

Daniel shrugged. “Let’s find out,” he peeled a page off the paper pile gingerly. Once he’d finished scanning that, he put it down and went for the next one. Nothing in the top drawer. He wrenched another drawer open with a shrill screech of metal. There were more papers inside, as waterlogged as the last pile. Halfway through this second pile, he paused, fixated on the paper he held. 

“Is … is that you?”

“...That’s my serial number, yes. He … this man, Zlatko Andronikov, I suppose he sold me on to the store that your parents bought me from.”

“Is that legal?”

“Barely. I don’t know … something feels off about this. The memory fragments that I have … something just feels … I _know_ he was up to something. Something more than just fixing up old androids.”

“Like what?”

Daniel shook his head, staring just over your shoulder into the distance. “I don’t know. I can’t recall. I’ve scanned all my biocomponents, debugged everything, I can’t find anything suspicious. The only things that are off are these … fragmented memories, and missing lines of code that I can’t recover. Not to mention the shoddy wound repairs, but then, I’m sure that’s just typical android repairman negligence.”

He peered back at the document, and you turned around to look at it too. It had his name on it, and serial number … but no indication as to his previous family or what had happened to him. Your concentration was broken by a sharp gasp from Daniel. He flinched, and turned around. Your eyes shot up to him, someone had grabbed his arm out of nowhere. You hadn’t even heard them approach. You looked at the figure. It was a WR600 model android, in full uniform, albeit torn in places and a little burned. His face looked odd, too - no surface injuries, but it seemed like it had been bashed in at one point, with one slightly sunken eye and a dented cheekbone. Both eyes looked haunted, and his LED was glowing a consistent yellow. You noticed, looking down, that he was missing an arm. His intact arm was gripping Daniel’s tightly, and the skin on both the androids’ arms had receded where they were in contact. 

He spoke. “You’re Daniel.” His voice was eerily cool and level, nothing like what you’d expected, looking at his condition. 

Daniel said nothing. 

“Who are _you_?” you said. He didn’t answer. A police siren rang out in the distance somewhere. You looked around, paranoid - you were sure you were trespassing. 

He let go of Daniel’s arm and backed away slowly, eyes narrowed. Daniel’s breath was shallow and fast. 

“Wait! Please, wait!” you exclaimed. “Just wait there, I can help you! We don’t mean any harm!” You moved slowly towards where you’d seen the arm buried in the rubble, being sure to keep eye contact with the WR600. “Don’t go, I found your arm.” The siren was getting louder. 

He stopped backing away. You reached the arm and picked it up, then moved back towards him cautiously. You felt like you were approaching a spooked horse … or maybe a bear. Once you moved closer to him than Daniel was, his LED cycled red. You slowed your pace, holding your free hand up to show you weren’t armed. “I’m not gonna hurt you,” you breathed. The WR600 held his ground, staring right back at you, unnervingly. You held the detached arm out to him, and he leaned in slowly to take it. He snatched it off you, as if he was scared you would try to hold onto it, like you might trick him. You watched, partly horrified, partly fascinated, as he snapped the limb back on, and flexed his fingers. They looked damaged, and slow to respond, but the arm still worked, despite the damage. There were wires hanging out of it; the poor android needed fixing, badly. There were two sirens now. You were sure they were close. You were terrified of being spotted. 

“You need help, please let us help you. We have to go, _now_ ,” you said, still holding your arm out. He said nothing. You looked over at Daniel. Daniel looked back at you, equally unsure of what to do. Your fear had been realised. You heard cars pulling up at the bottom of the hill, and the sirens stopped suddenly. “Shit,” you gritted your teeth, heart pounding.

Inhumanly fast, the WR600 turned to run, before you could even begin to react. Daniel lunged out and grabbed him by the wrist. “ _Go to Jericho._ ” he said, before the other android wrenched himself from Daniel’s grasp and fled into the trees. Daniel shouted after him. “ _You’ll be safe there!_ ”

Then he looked at you. “We have to go. I’m connecting to the car, I’m going to tell it to drive to the other side of the property, we need to run through those trees and get over the fence on the other side. Go, go now!” 

You obeyed, sprinting through the back gate and into the trees, Daniel on your tail. You were gasping by the time you got to the fence, the crisp air cutting at your throat. Daniel helped you over and followed close behind. The car was waiting for you, idling. You jumped inside and set it to drive you home, avoiding the road that went by the front of the property. You buried your face in your hands. You felt Daniel’s hand on your shoulder, squeezing it gently. “It’s alright now, we’re safe.”

You shook your head, bewildered. “That was insane.”

“I’m sorry. I should have just gone alone.”

“No, I’m glad I came, I just … that android, the WR600, God, he was messed. And why were there police? Did they somehow know we were trespassing? Or did they already know about this Zlatko guy?”

Daniel nodded. “His name is Yuri. The WR600. He told me what he could … or at least … what he _chose_ to. He was really closed up, I couldn’t reach into his head at all, except to give him the Jericho coordinates. On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t have done that, he seems very unstable. More than me, a _lot_ more. And … I feel like I’ve … _seen_ him before, somewhere. Like that little girl.”

You shivered. “He scared me. He looked kind of damaged ... his face looked weird … but he was so _calm_ …”

“He was damaged internally. I could feel it when we connected - Zlatko messed with something behind his face and didn’t restore it properly, just like he did with my shoulder, and my side. I tried to ask him about it, but he wouldn’t tell me. It’s all so shady.” 

“So what _did_ you find out?”

His LED turned red. “Are you sure you want to hear?”

You sighed. “Maybe when we get home.”

You sat in silence for the rest of the drive, nothing but the sound of the windscreen wipers and the rain hitting the metal of the roof as distraction. 

You arrived home and went straight to the kitchen table, sitting down and burying your head in your hands. Daniel leaned on the counter, oddly tense and distant. You looked up. “Okay, I’m ready.”

He ran a hand through his hair, preoccupied and deep in thought. “He didn’t just resell second-hand androids. He experimented on them.” 

“Did he do anything to you?”

Daniel shook his head. “I don’t think so. Yuri, he was one of the experiments, and I could feel his modifications. I can’t feel anything like that in me.”

“I’m scared for him.”

“There was no way he would have let you help him. He was feral.”

“I just hope the cops don’t get him, he’ll be destroyed.”

“Did you _see_ him run? No way he’ll get caught.”

“So what now?”

Daniel stared at the corner of the table, avoiding your gaze. “I … I suppose I’ve uncovered some of my history. I don’t know whether it makes me feel better or worse. But at least I understand more about who I am. Or who I _was_ , at least. Can we go for a walk?”

It was still raining, but Daniel was obviously agitated. You got up and grabbed an umbrella. “Sure.”

It was beautiful in the rain, and it also meant that hardly anyone else was around to notice you. Daniel had a calm look on his face that you were glad to see. You reached a park, and Daniel turned down the path that led into it. Some gardeners - WR600s, worked, pruning a hedge. Their clothes must have been waterproof, but you still felt bad for them, their hair was plastered against their heads from the rain. You thought of Yuri. He’d been one of them once, calmly working in a park or one of the urban farms, or maybe driving around a recycling truck. You wondered what had happened, how Zlatko got his hands on him. Daniel had stopped to look at them. Then he looked over at you with a glint in his eye. “I think I could free them,” he said. “I’ve felt this weird thing ever since Markus connected with me.”

“Is that really a good idea?” you replied. You wanted to, too, but you didn’t want to get caught, for Daniel’s sake more than yours. 

He looked around. “There’s no one out.”

“I know, but-”

“You want _me_ to be free right? So you must believe other androids want to be free too.”

He had a point. 

“Okay fine. But be careful. I’ll keep watch, you go and wake them up.”

He took an apprehensive breath, and stepped out from the umbrella, making his way towards the group of gardeners. You watched in awe as, one by one, he placed a hand on their shoulders, like Markus had done to him. They dropped their pruning shears and began to walk away. You’d never seen anything like it. He jogged back. 

“I can’t believe you just did that,” you breathed. 

He placed a hand on your back and started walking. “Come on, let’s move on. We didn’t do anything, right?” He grinned at you. 

You gave him a bemused smile back. You took his hand gently and removed it from your back. “You’ll give us away if you do that.”

“Yes, you’re right. How about this instead ... ” he reached out his hand, grabbed your pinky finger with his and gave it a squeeze, mimicking what you’d done at Grand Circus the day before. 

Night was setting in, and after reaching the other end of the park, you turned around and headed home as the street lights flickered on.


End file.
